trcse 


THE   NEW   WOMAN    IN    HUNTING    COSTUME. 


IN 


BLOOMERS 


OR 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

A    NOVEL   BY 

GEORGE   F.  HALL. 

AUTHOR  OP  "PLAIN  POINTS." 


'GRACE  WAS  IN  ALL  HER  STEPS,  HEAVEN  IN  HER  EYE, 
IN  EVERY  GESTURE  DIGNITY  AND  £,OVE."--MILTON. 


AMERICAN  BIBLE  HOUSE: 

CHICAGO,        PHILADELPHIA,         8TOCKTOJJ. 

1895. 


Copyrighted  1895 

BY 

LINCOLN    W.    WALTER. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Chapter  I.— My  Outing  at  Spring  Rock  Villa 19 

Chapter  II. — Grace  Thorne  at  Home 45 

Chapter  III.— A  Quarrel  with  Mother  Grundy 73 

Chapter  IV.— An  Affair  of  the  Heart 97 

Chapter   V. — A   Memorable   Gathering 123 

Chapter  VI.— Diverging  Paths 149 

Chapter  VII. — A  Woman's  Plea  for  National  Righteous 
ness  177 

Chapter  VIII.— Among  the  Rockies 203 

Chapter  IX. — Disappointment 221 

Chapter  X.— Under  the  Mistletoe 245 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 
The  "New  Woman"  in  Hunting  Costume— Frontispiece .     4 

Girls  Who  Can  Paddle  Their  Own  Canoe 11 

An  Ideal  Outing  Place 23 

Starting  for  the  Wilds  of  Nature 27 

The  Offensive  Costume— How  Made 31 

She  Was  Certainly  a  Study,  This  Girl  in  Bloomers 37 

Bloomers  in  the  Home 47 

Leading  the  Way  to  the  Library 51 

The  New  Woman  Rides  A-straddle 55 

The  Dinner  Party 63 

Proper  Dress   67 

Only   the   Rich  and   Refined 75 

Sepulchers  of  Moral  Filth 97 

Gilded  Dives    83 

Vulgar  Dress  87 

Myers'  Bridge    101 

Under  a  Tree 109 

The  Accomplished  Musician 115 

Chicago's   Fairest  Women 127 

The  Model  Figure 135 

The  Dancing  Party 141 

A  Relic  of  Slavery  Times 151 

Niagara  Falls    157 

They  Rowed  in  Perfect  Rhythm 163 

The   Railroad   Magnate 171 

The  White   House 181 

Senate  Chamber  191 

River  in  Rocky  Mountains 201 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The  Rejected  Lover 225 

Under  the  Mistletoe 253 

Where  Miss  Thome  is  a  Frequent  Visitor 249 

Skating  in  Bloomers 257 

Home  of  Queen  Victoria  261 

The  Model  Children 269 

Fully  One-half  the  Women  now  Wear  Bloomers 271 


HERE  ARE  GIRLS  WHO  CAN  PADDLE  THEIR  OWN 

CANOE. 


SUBJECTS  DISCUSSED. 


mESS  REFORM.  RELIGION.  MARRIAGE. 

DIETETICS.  CO-EDUCATION.  SOCIETY. 

EQUAL  SUFFRAGE.  RACE  QUESTION.  DIVORCE. 

PROHIBITION.  ATHLETICS.  BIMETALISM. 

TOBACCO-SMOKING.  MODERATE  DRINKING. 


REFERENCES. 


BURROWS. 

INGALLS. 

ROSSETTI. 

BROOKS. 

JOB. 

RUSKIN. 

BURKE. 

JONSON. 

ROGERS. 

BEETHOVEN. 

KELLOGG. 

SHAKESPEARE 

COWPERTHWAIT. 

KITCHEN. 

SIGOURNEY. 

CAESAR. 

LISTZ. 

ST.  JOHN. 

CINDERELLA. 

LONGFELLOW. 

STANDARD. 

DEPEW. 

LEWIS. 

SEWARD. 

DORR. 

LEOPOLD. 

SHELLEY. 

DIX. 

LIVESET. 

SUMNER. 

DAVID. 

LINCOLN. 

STOWE. 

ECOB. 

LOWBER. 

SIDNEY. 

ELLIS. 

LOWELL. 

SOLOMON. 

GOETHE. 

MACAULAY. 

SWIFT. 

GARFIELD. 

MILLER. 

THOMSON. 

GREELET. 

MULOCK. 

TENNYSON. 

GOLDSMITH. 

MADAME  DE  STAEL'. 

TAYLOR. 

GLADSTONE 

NAPOLEON. 

WHITTIER. 

HOLLAND. 

OUSELET. 

WILLARD. 

HATES. 

PAUL. 

WEBSTER. 

9 

HOOD. 

PHILLIPS. 

WASHINGTON. 

HAVERGAL. 

PAYNE. 

ZOLA. 

A  STUDY  IN  BLOOMERS, 


A  STUDY  IN  BLOOMERS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MY  OUTING  AT  SPRING  ROCK  VILLA. 

"I  know  a  spot  where  the  wild  vines  creep, 

And  the  coral  moss-cups  grow, 
And  where  at  the  foot  of  the  rocky  steep, 
The  sweet  blue  violets  grow." 

—JULIA  C.  R.  DORR. 

It  was  the  fifth  day  of  August,  1805.  The  summer 
weeks  had  been  excessively  hot,  and  I  was  beginning 
to  feel  worn  and  languid.  Although  but  twenty-five 
and  unmarried,,  T  looked  like  an  over-worked  profes 
sional  man  of  middle  age,  who  had  long  had  the 
cares  of  a  large  family  and  the  drawbacks  of  a  small 
salary  on  his  mind.  And  yet  I  was  perfectly  free 
from  wedlock,  with  no  prospects,  and  my  salary  was 
four  thousand  a  year — very  good  for  a  young  man 
only  three  years  out  of  college.  I  was  pastor  of  a 
large  and  influential  Chicago  church,  and,  although 
very  pleasant,  my  work  was  very  exacting.  Hence  I 


20  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

always  looked  forward  anxiously  to  a  six  weeks'  va 
cation  each  year,  which  my  people  were  good  enough 
to  allow. 

"And  where  are  you  going  this  year,  Doctor?''  had 
been  asked  me  so  many  times  the  past  fortnight  that 
the  clouds,  and  trees,  and  express  wagons  seemed 
to  be  echoing  and  re-echoing  the  query.  As  usual,  it 
had  been  a  difficult  matter  to  decide,  for  there  are  sd 
many  nice  resorts  in  this  grand  country  of  ours.  But 
I  had  finally  concluded  to  spend  the  weeks  quietly 
at  Spring  Kock  Villa,  a  beautiful  country  seat  in 
Northern  Wisconsin,  owned  by  one  of  my  parishon- 
ers,  a  wealthy  banker.  The  family  had  very  kindly 
invited  me  to  be  their  guest  for  the  summer,  and  I 
am  a  thousand  times  glad  I  accepted  the  invitation, 
for  it  was  there  that  I  first  saw  the  sweet  girl  in 
bloomers  who  has  transformed  my  life  in  more  ways 
than  one. 

After  a  somewhat  tedious  ride,  I  found  myself  at 
my  journey's  end.  It  was  evening,  and,  after  a  hearty 
meal  and  luxurious  bath,  I  retired.  A  good  night's 
rest,  and  I  was  ready  to  relish  the  bewildering  beauty 
of  nature  that  everywhere  presented  itself.  Spring 
Rock  Villa  embraced  several  hundred  acres,  includ 
ing  a  well-stocked  farm.  The  buildings  were  all  mod 
ern,  but  unique  in  their  architecture.  The  grounds 
were  exquisitely  laid  out,  and  cared  for  by  an  experi 
enced  gardener  from  the  old  country.  Just  back  of 
the  villa  were  the  hills,  in  which  abounded  game  of 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  21 

all  kinds,  and  from  which  flowed  a  laughing  stream. 
A  lake  hard  by,  covering  a  thousand  acres,  with 
sandy,  pebbly  shores  and  water  clear  as  crystal,  com 
pleted  the  picture.  Smithville,  a  town  of  3,000  peo 
ple,  with  excellent  railroad  connections  and  all  mod 
ern  improvements,  was  only  five  miles  away.  Hence 
from  every  standpoint  of  consideration,  Spring  Rock 
Villa  seemed  to  me  an  ideal  place  in  which  to  take 
one's  outing. 

I  don't  like  watering  places  for  vacation  purposes. 
There  is  too  much  buzz,  and  flurry,  and  sham.  Give 
me  some  quiet  spot  where  nature  has  done  her  best 
to  provide  every  means  of  enjoyment,  and  where  so 
ciety  has  not  yet  secured  a  monopoly. 

"Well,  Doctor,  we  want  you  to  make  yourself  at 
home  while  here,"  said  genial  Banker  Brown  after 
breakfast.  "There  are  some  good  saddle  horses  in 
the  stable  if  you  wish  to  ride.  Or,  you  can  take  a 
round  on  the  lake  in  the  electric  boat  if  you  prefer. 
Do  you  ride  a  wheel?" 

"No,  I  do  not.  That's  one  fad  I've  never  adopted, 
Mr.  Brown,"  said  I.  "There's  an  old  saying  that  it's 
better  to  be  out  of  the  world  than  out  of  fashion;  but 
I've  gotten  along  very  well  thus  far  without  a  bi 
cycle,  and  I  think  I  shall  try  and  complete  my  course 
wheelless." 

"But  have  you  gotten  along  so  well,  Doctor?"  said 
Mrs.  Brown.  "It  seems  to  me  that  you  are  looking 
quite  thin.  Perhaps  if  you  had  spent  two  or  three 


22  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

hours  daily  on  a  bicycle  during  the  season  you  would 
be  stronger  to-day." 

"Really,  Mrs.  Brown,  do  you  think  bicycle  riding 
beneficial  to  the  health?" 

"I  cannot  speak  from  experience,"  said  the  amiable 
lady,  "but  the  testimony  of  many  of  my  friends  who 
are  devoted  to  their  wheels  is  all  on  one  side  of  the 
question.  Now  there  is  Grace  Thorne,  for  instance. 
Mr.  Brown  remembers  that  when  she  first  came  to 
Smithville,  four  summers  ago,  she  was  pale  and 
weak;  but  now  she  is  one  of  the  handsomest  creatures 
I  ever  saw,  and  as  strong  as  an  ox,  apparently.  You 
should  see  her  spinning  along  the  lane  in  her  bloom 
ers,  Doctor.  She  is  a  perfect  picture  of  health  and 
female  loveliness  if  I  ever  saw  one." 

"Bloomers?"  I  gasped.    "Mrs.  Brown!" 

The  banker  and  his  wife  laughed  heartily  at  my 
expense.  And  then  we  calmly  discussed  the  bloomer 
question.  To  my  amazement  Mrs.  Brown,  whom  1 
had  always  considered  one  of  the  most  exemplary 
ladies  of  my  parish,  was  an  all-round  enthusiast  on 
the  new  woman  hobby.  But  Mr.  Brown  shared  my 
conservatism.  We  seriously  questioned  the  woman 
liness  of  bicycle  riding  at  all  on  the  part  of  the 
gentler  sex,  much  less  the  wearing  of  bloomers. 

"I  am  certainly  surprised,"  said  my  hostess,  "that 
you  should  be  opposed  to  progress,  Doctor.  Why,  the 
bicycle  is  one  of  the  greatest  hygienic  inventions  of 
this  century.  It  has  already  accomplished  won- 


AN  IDEAL  PLACE  IN  WHICH  TO  TAKE  ONE'S  OUTING, 
—Page  21. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  25 

X 

ders  for  both  sexes,  and  I  feel  confident  that  its  day 
of  usefulness  has  only  dawned.  It  stands  for  broader 
shoulders,  firmer  muscles  and  more  powerful  chests. 
To  me  a  shining  wheel  suggests  a  glow  of  health. 
Were  I  not  so  old  I  should  have  a  bicycle  before  Sat 
urday  night." 

"Your  enthusiasm  is  invigorating,  Mrs.  Brown," 
said  I.  "But  do  not  learned  physicians  condemn  the 
wheel,  especially  for  women?" 

"Oh,  yes.  Learned  physicians  condemn  every 
thing,  some  of  them.  But  there  are  physicians  and 
physicians.  I  do  not  think  it  can  be  proven  that  the 
highest  medical  authorities  are  against  bicycling  for 
women.  How  dare  they  in  the  face  of  facts?  You 
know  that  Gil  Bias  says  'Facts  are  stubborn  things,' 
and  the  facts  are  that  the  wheel  is  proving  an  inesti 
mable  boon  to  woman.  But  come,  Doctor,  we  can 
argue  at  some  other  time.  You  are  doubtless  anx 
ious  to  take  a  stroll  through  the  hills,  so  we  will  not 
detain  you  longer.  We  lunch  at  one;  or,  if  you  prefer 
to  carry  a  little  lunch  with  you,  and  not  return  till 
later  in  the  day,  I  will  instruct  the  butler  to  pre 
pare  a  basket  for  you." 

"Thank  you,  Mrs.  Brown.  I  believe  I'll  take  a  lunch 
and  spend  the  day  in  the  hills." 

And  so,  basket  in  hand,  and  a  gun  on  my  shou-lder, 
I  started  for  the  wilds  of  nature.  I  was  not  much  of 
a  hunter,  but  nevertheless  liked  the  sport  of  an  oc 
casional  shot.  During  the  day  I  bagged  a  few  squir- 


26  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

rels  and  quails.  At  noon  I  found  a  pleasant  nook  far 
up  among  the  hills,  and  deep  in  the  recesses  of  rocks 
and  trees.  There  by  a  cool,  sparkling  spring  I  sat 
down  and  enjoyed  my  lunch.  With  only  a  bird  dog 
for  a  companion,  I  thus  spent  many  a  pleasant  day, 
till  I  had  grown  quite  strong.  My  skin  was  as  brown 
as  a  berry,  and  my  appetite  as  vigorous  as  a  har 
vester's.  F'rced  from  the  busy  cares  of  life,  my  jaded 
energies  were  speedily  rejuvenated,  and  being  be 
came  a  pleasure  rather  than  a  task.  An  annual  va 
cation  is  a  religious  duty. 

Three  weeks  had  ilown  by,  and,  although  we  had 
had  numerous  discussions,  Mrs.  Brown  had  not  yet 
convinced  me  as  to  the  utility  of  bicycles,  nor  the 
beauty  of  bloomers. 

"Just  wait  till  you  see  Grace  Thome,"  she  had  said 
several  times,  "and  you  will  undergo  a  change  of 
heart." 

Miss  Thorne  was  the  daughter  of  a  well-to-do 
tradesman  in  Smith ville,  where  she  was  the  idol  of 
the  town,  because  of  her  many  excellent  qualities 
and  deeds  of  mercy.  At  least  Mrs.  Brown  said  so. 
But  I  feared  she  might  be  mistaken  in  this,  as  in  the 
question  of  wheels  and  bloomers.  Miss  Thome,  al 
though  but  twenty-four,  was  a  leader  among  her  sex 
in  Smithville,  and  had  been  sent  to  Boston  as  a  dele 
gate  to  some  sort  of  a  reform  convention  just  a  day 
before  my  arrival  at  the  villa.  She  had  tarried  a  few- 
days  in  Ohio  to  visit  relatives  on  her  return  home- 


AND  SO,  BASKET  IN  HAND,  AND  A  GUN  ON  MY 
SHOULDED,  I  STARTED  FOR  THE  WILDS  OF  NA 
TURE.— Page  25. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  29 

ward,  and  hence  the  delay.  Mrs.  Brown  was  her  in 
timate  friend,  and  it  was  with  no  little  interest  that 
I  finally  began  to  look  for  her  advent.  As  to  match 
making,  I  well  knew  that  my  kind  hostess  had  no  de 
signs,  for  she  was  above  such  contemptuous  foolish 
ness.  It  would  have  done  little  good  anyhow,  for  I 
felt  myself  to  be  woman-proof.  I  had  had  several 
little  love  experiences  in  college,  and  had  become 
hardened.  I  was  sure  that  I  was  wedded  to  my  pro 
fession,  and  did  not  care  for  any  other  bride. 

It  was  Tuesday  evening.  I  was  just  returning 
from  a  day  on  the  lake.  With  fishing  tackle,  and  a 
nice  mess  of  bass,  I  was  plodding  carelessly  down  the 
lane,  when  what  should  I  see  but  a  bicyclist  ap 
proaching  from  the  direction  of  Smithville.  And  she 
was  dressed  in  bloomers!  Often  on  the  boulevards 
in  Chicago  I  had  observed  similar  sights,  but  always 
with  a  feeling  that  my  good  sense  of  the  delicate  had 
been  outraged.  But  not  so  this  time.  The  lady  ap 
proaching  was  soon  beside  me,  and  in  a  moment  had 
passed  on,  her  bright  wheel  spinning  her  along  at  the 
rate  of  ten  miles  or  so  an  hour.  Above  the  average  in 
height,  well  rounded  in  form,  with  snowy  neck  and 
rosy  cheeks,  whoever  it  was,  she  presented  a  vision  of 
loveliness,  thought  I.  And  I  was  not  long  in  con 
cluding  that  if  that  were  Miss  Thorne,  I  should  like 
to  make  her  acquaintance  right  soon,  bloomers  or  no 
bloomers. 

I  quickened  my  pace  and  was  soon  at  the  villa. 


30  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

Depositing  my  game  with  the  butler,  I  repaired  to  my 
room,  attired  myself  for  dinner,  and  innocently  made 
my  way  to  the  parlor. 

"Ah,  Doctor,  I  did  not  know  that  yon  had  arrived," 
said  Mrs.  Brown.  "Allow  me  to  present  yon  to  my 
friend,  Miss  Thome,  Rev.  Dr.  Charlton.'' 

To  my  utter  bewilderment,  the  fair  young  lady  was 
still  attired  in  her  bloomers.  I  do  not  know  jnst  how 
I  had  expected  her  to  make  a  change,  for  certainly 
our  hostess,  being  a  very  stout  old  lady,  could  not 
have  supplied  her  with  a  suitable  gown ;  and  yet  I  ex 
pected  to  see  her  in  a  different  garb  from  the  one 
worn  on  the  wheel.  But,  no;  there  she  sat  in  bloom 
ers  of  the  regulation  pattern.  The  offensive  costume 
was  made  of  rich,  dark  velvet,  cut  quite  full,  and 
gathered  neatly  just  below  the  knee,  thus  leaving  ex 
posed  a  plump  calf  and  delicately  moulded  ankle, 
for  the  boots  were  low-cut,  and  there  were  no  leg 
gings.  The  waist  was  made  of  changeable  silk,  with 
the  usual  large  sleeves.  Save  a  little  diamond  which 
scintillated  at  her  pretty  neck,  and  a  single  ring  on 
her  left  third  finger,  she  wore  no  ornaments.  A  heavy 
fold  of  dark  brown  hair  was  coyously  draped  over 
each  little  pink  ear,  while  from  beneath  long  lashes 
a  pair  of  deep  blue  eyes  shot  glances  of  penetrating 
intelligence.  Verily  here  was  a  typical  woma.Ta  «tf  liar; 
new  school,  and  before  we  had  conversed  long  I  found 
myself  absorbingly  interested.  I  forgot  all  about  her 
bloomers,  until  we  arose  to  go  out  to  dinner.  With 


THE  OFFENSIVE  COSTUME  WAS  MADE  OF  RICH 
DARK  VELVET,  CUT  QUITE  FULL  AND  GATHERED 
NEATLY  AT  THE  KNEE.— Page  30 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  33 

sensations  better  imagined  than  described,  I  stilled 
my  prejudice  and  offered  my  arm.  So  accustomed 
all  my  life  to  heavy  skirts  and  long  trails,  I  felt  al 
most  like  apologizing  for  being  in  the  presence  of  a 
woman  who  seemed  only  half  dressed.  And  yet  there 
was  something  that  said  to  my  inner  consciousness, 
This  is  all  very  sensible  and  very  nice.  Five  feet 
eight  if  an  inch,  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  if  an 
ounce,  perfectly  proportioned,  and  as  light  on  her 
feet  as  a  feather — to  walk  beside  her  gave  me  a  pe 
culiar  sense  of  exalted  manhood.  Instinctively  I  rea 
soned  to  myself, why  cannot  all  women  be  so?  It  seems 
so  much  better  than  to  be  little,  and  pale,  and  doll- 
like.  I  had  always  imagined  that  the  new  woman 
must  be  indelicate;  but  here  was  a  woman  as  delicate 
as  anybody's  sister  dare  be,  and  yet  apparently  strong 
enough  to  wrestle  with  a  giant. 

As  the  meal  progressed  the  conversation  turned 
from  fishing  tackle,  guns,  and  dogs,  to  bicycling  and 
dress  reform.  It  was  a  hobby  with  Mrs.  Brown,  and 
as  her  fair  guest  had  just  returned  from  a  great  new- 
woman  convention,  it  was  very  natural  that  we 
should  all  discuss  the  subject. 

"And  you  are  still  as  much  in  love  with  your  bi 
cycle  as  ever,  Miss  Thome?"  inquired  Mr.  Brown, 
with  a  side  glance  full  of  merriment. 

"Oh,  indeed,"  she  replied.  "If  possible,  more  so.  My 
wheel  is  a  true  friend,  and  I'm  sure  I  would  be  lost 
without  it." 


34  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

"Did  you  see  much  riding  East?"  continued  the 
banker. 

"More  than  ever  before.  The  well-paved  cities 
seemed  to  literally  swarm  with  bicycles,  and  ladies 
and  gentlemen  of  every  station  might  be  seen  spin 
ning  here  and  there  on  their  wheels,  some  in  the  pur 
suit  of  pleasure,  some  of  business.  But  whatever  the 
motive,  no  one  can  say  the  riders  were  not  the  health 
ier  and  happier  for  their  riding.  The  increase  in  the 
bicycle  trade  has  been  phenomenal,  Mr.  Brown.  I  am 
informed  that  some  of  the  large  firms  are  compelled 
to  run  day  and  night  in  order  to  fill  their  orders.  In 
some  cities  the  street  car  companies  are  complaining 
bitterly  against  the  so-called  bicycle  fad,  because  the 
growing  custom  of  riding  to  and  from  the  office  and 
shop  on  wheels  has  cut  down  their  receipts  heavily. 
And  the  livery  men  are  also  complaining.  In  fact,  it 
is  now  quite  generally  admitted  that  the  growth  of 
bicycling  has  much  to  do  with  the  low  price  of  horses. 
Mr.  Chauncey  Depew  recently  predicted  the  practical 
annihilation  of  the  horse  trade." 

"But  do  you  not  think  it  is  a  fad  that,  like  the 
skating  rink  craze  of  a  few  years  ago,  will  shortly 
run  its  course?''  I  asked. 

"Not  at  all,"  she  replied.  "The  skating  rink  had 
very  little  to  commend  it,  and  much  to  condemn  it. 
But  the  wheel  has  very  much  to  commend  it,  and 
practically  nothing  to  condemn  it.  It  is  a  time- 
saver,  and  if  one  must  keep  a  horse,  also  a  money- 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  35 

saver,  for  the  wheel  needs  no  corn  and  oats,  and  no 
groom.  It  is  a  health-giver,  as  many  an  overworked 
professional  man  and  woman  can  testify.  Used  to 
excess,  as  it  has  been  in  a  few  instances  perhaps,  the 
wheel  has  not  been  helpful.  But  on  the  whole,  I  do 
not  see  how  any  competent  critic  can  but  pronounce 
the  bicycle  an  epoch-making  invention.  Zola,  the 
celebrated  French  author,  who,  if  not  the  most 
moral,  is  one  of  the  most  prolific  writers  of  the  cen 
tury,  rides  a  bicycle.  In  a  recent  interview  he  said : 
'I  ride  a  bicycle  for  exercise.  I  am  a  great  believer 
in  the  healthful  influence  of  the  bicycle.  Within 
fifty  years  I  believe  it  will  be  considered  a  necessity 
in  every  household.  All  will  ride,  father,  mother, 
daughters  and  sons.'  If  the  perpetual  candidate  for 
the  French  Academy  should  come  to  New  York, 
which  he  threatens  to  do,  he  would  find  his  prophecy 
largely  fulfilled  already." 

Her  easy,  pointed  talk  charmed  me.  It  was  so  dif 
ferent  from  the  little  nothings  I  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  expecting  from  society  ladies.  She  was  cer 
tainly  a  study,  this  girl  in  bloomers.  She  was  jovial, 
but  not  silly;  well-informed,  but  not  affected;  cor 
dial,  but  not  soft.  I  had  alwaj's  been  opposed  to 
bicycling  on  general  principles,  especially  on  the 
part  of  ladies.  But  after  this  fair-minded  and  ex 
haustive  deliverance  there  seemed  absolutely  noth 
ing  to  say,  and  I  very  properly  held  my  tongue.  The 
plates  had  just  been  removed,  and  the  dessert 


36  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

brought  in.  Dallying  over  his  coffee,  Mr.  Brown 
finally  startled  me  from  a  gentle  reverie  in  which  I 
saw  bicycles,  street-cars,  horses,  and  fat  corporation 
presidents,  by  putting  our  talented  guest  another 
question,  more  startling  to  me  than  the  first  one,  and 
yet  more  interesting.  Again  he  shot  me  a  merry 
glance  from  the  corner  of  his  mischievous  eye. 

"And  what  have  you  to  say  for  bloomers,  Miss 
Thome?" 

"Ah,  Mr.  Brown,"  she  replied,  with  a  most  win 
some  smile,  "bloomers  are  my  hobby.  It  is  the  most 
sensible  idea  in  woman's  dress  that  has  been  ad 
vanced  in  centuries." 

"Why  do  you  think  so?" 

"For  several  reasons.  First,  because  bloomers  do 
not  impede  the  movement  of  the  wearer  like  skirts. 
Any  form  of  dress  that  impedes  in  getting  about 
ought  to  be  forever  discarded.  Just  think  of  women 
wearing  heavy  skirts  that  hang  in  multitudinous 
folds  about  their  limbs.  It  is  no  wonder  they  cannot 
walk,  or  run,  or  fence,  or  ride  properly,  or  do  any 
thing  that  requires  action  as  well  as  men.  But  with 
bloomers,  it  is  as  easy  for  women  to  climb  the  hills, 
or  row,  or  ride  a  wheel,  or  wrestle,  or  jump  as  her 
brothers.  In  the  second  place,  bloomers  are  more 
healthful.  They  are  light  and  airy,  and  feel  good  on 
the  wearer,  while  skirts  are  a  constant  drag,  drag, 
drag,  and  whether  supported  from  the  hips  or  shoul 
ders,  they  are  an  intolerable  and  inexcusable  nui- 


SHE  WAS  CERTAINLY  A  STUDY,  THIS  GIRL  IN 
BLOOMERS.  SHE  WAS  JOVIAL,  BUT  NOT  SILLY; 
WELL  INFORMED,  BUT  NOT  AFFECTED;  CORDIAL, 
BUT  NOT  SOFT.— Page  35. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  39 

sance,  causing  or  aggravating  an  innumerable  num 
ber  of  diseases  peculiar  to  the  gentler  sex.  It  is  well 
known  that  specialists  thrive  to-day  on  diseases  of 
women.  Half  their  receipts  would  be  cut  off,  were 
skirts  abolished.  They  are  not  only  disease-pro 
ducers,  but  disease-carriers.  Trailing  the  dusts  of 
the  street,  they  gather  disease  germs  and  carry  them 
into  the  home  in  thousands  of  instances. 

"In  the  third  place,  bloomers  are  less  expensive. 
It  takes  eight  yards  or  more  to  make  a  skirt  properly, 
while  one-half  the  amount  will  suffice  for  bloomers. 
And  this  is  a  big  item  with  the  million.  In  the 
fourth  place,  bloomers  add  to  a  woman's  charms.  In 
all  ages  a  woman's  form  has  been  the  artist's  ideal 
of  beauty.  If  it  is  true  that  art  is  a  developer,  then 
it  is  a  sin  against  art  and  beauty  to  completely  en 
shroud  woman's  lower  limbs,  wrhich  constitute  one  of 
her  chiefest  charms.  Bloomers  have  been  called 
vulgar.  If  so,  then  art  is  vulgar.  'To  the  pure  all 
things  are  pure.'  It  would  not  be  wise  to  trust  very 
far  those  who  condemn  bloomers  because  they  ex 
pose  the  form  more  perfectly  than  skirts.  No,  from 
every  standpoint,  of  consideration,  bloomers  are  bet 
ter  than  skirts,  and  I  am  glad  to  believe  they  have 
come  to  stay.  Already  thousands  of  our  best  ladies 
are  wearing  them  on  their  wheels  and  in  the  gym 
nasium,  while  a  few  have  adopted  them  as  their  con 
stant  habit.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  skirts 
will  be  curiosities  of  the  barbarous  past." 

"Bravo!"  exclaimed  the  banker's  wife. 


40  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

"Well,  why  don't  you  wear  'em?"  said  the  banker. 

"For  the  same  reason  that  many  others  do  not,  I 
suppose — Mother  Grundy.  Few  women  are  so  brave 
and  capable  as  our  dear  Miss  Thorne.  Consequently 
the  reform  moves  too  slowly.  You  remember,  Mr. 
Brown,  that  when  this  sweet  girl  first  appeared  on 
the  streets  of  Smithville  on  her  bicycle,  the  gossips 
fed  upon  her  in  fiendish  delight,  for  she  was  the  first 
lady  in  the  city  to  ride.  But  now  hundreds  ride,  and 
it  is  thought  quite  proper." 

"And  I  am  now  undergoing  a  similar  experience 
with  my  bloomers,  Mrs.  Brown,"  said  Miss  Thorne, 
laughing,  "and  the  gentlemen  can  depend  upon  it 
that  it  will  end  in  a  similar  triumph  for  the  right  and 
sensible.  I  believe  I  am  so  far  the  only  lady  in  our 
town  to  wear  bloomers  habitually,  but  this  will  not 
be  so  long.  Many  of  our  fair  young  girls  may  be  seen 
donned  in  bloomers  of  evenings  when  riding  their 
wheels.  By  the  way,  I  ran  across  a  nice  little  edi 
torial  in  the  Boston  Standard  yesterday  which  I  cut 
out  and  put  in  my  portmanteau  on  purpose  for  you, 
Mrs.  Brown.  I  feel  sure  that  you  will  be  delighted 
with  it,  and  if  you  will  excuse  me  one  moment  I  will 
get  it  and  read  it  to  the  gentlemen  at  this  stage  of 
the  discussion." 

Returning,  she  read  as  follows: — 

"That  the  ordinary  dress  worn  by  women  is  en 
tirely  unsuitable  for  the  bicycle  goes  without  saying. 
In  the  attempt  to  find  a  garb  which  will  allow  the 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  41 

rider  the  necessary  freedom  of  action,  and  yet  pre 
serve  the  proprieties,  many  monstrosities  have  been 
produced;  but  these  defective  dresses  will  disappear 
in  the  process  of  time,  and  good  taste  will  find  a  way 
to  unite  utility  and  propriety  in  some  general  style 
of  garments  to  which  the  majority  of  lady  bicyclists 
will  conform. 

"Even  then  some  of  these  public  howlers  will  ob 
ject  to  the  bicycle  for  women  unless  it  can  be  rigged 
with  a  side-saddle  and  its  power  for  health  and  rec 
reation  practical \y  destroyed.  We  have  here  a  rem 
nant  of  the  old  superstition  about  'woman's  sphere' 
which  ought  to  have  no  influence  in  this  day  of  intelli 
gent  and  broad-minded  consideration  of  all  social 
and  moral  questions. 

"These  antediluvian  objectors  need  to  be  tanght 
that  character  is  in  the  individual  and  not  in  the 
dress,  and  that  it  is  more  clearly  revealed  by  manner 
than  by  garments.  A  modest  woman  will  not  lose 
her  modesty  because  she  gets  out  of  the  corsets  and 
stays,  the  tight  boots  and  heavy  skirts,  which  have 
crippled  her  body  and  hampered  her  activity  so  long, 
and  puts  on  garments  which  allow  the  freedom  of  ac 
tion  which  God  intended  the  human  body  to  have 
when  He  put  it  together. 

"The  present  trend  toward  open  air  sports  is  a 
hopeful  sign.  The  mingling  of  the  sexes  in  whole 
some  exercise  will  do  much  to  prevent  the  evils  which 
croaking  objectors  fear.  We  need  an  advance  and 


42  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

not  a  retreat.  When  sex  ceases  to  become  empha 
sized  in  dress,  the  baser  passions  will  have  less 
stimulus.  When  men  and  women  forget  sex  differ 
ences  in  the  common  comradeship  which  is  possible 
between  intellectual  and  social  equals,  unless  the 
whole  plan  of  human  life  is  a  bungle,  we  shall  have 
less  occasion  to  build  a  wall  around  chastity." 

"Already  the  light  is  breaking.  It  will  not  be  long 
till  skirts  are  relegated  to  the  garret." 

"Heaven  grant  it,"  said  Mrs.  Brown,  who  always 
carried  piety  into  her  reforms.  "When  that  day 
comes,  I'll  wear  bloomers,  too." 

And  the  banker  roared  with  laughter.  We  all  re 
turned  to  the  parlor,  where  the  conversation  merged 
into  other  subjects,  and  after  a  pleasant  hour,  we 
bade  each  other  good-'night  and  retired  to  our  rooms. 
When  I  arose  the  next  morning  and  appeared  at 
breakfast,  the  object  of  my  study  had  been  gone  an 
hour.  She  was  an  early  riser,  while  I  was  from  long 
habit  a  late  one.  I  felt  that  I  had  suffered  a  real  loss 
in  her  departure.  But  Mrs.  Brown  assured  ine  that 
we  should  see  her  often,  as  she  considered  the  dis 
tance  from  Smithville  a  mere  step,  and  was  in  the 
habit  of  running  out  frequently.  And  she  did.  One 
day  she  visited  us  and  remained  several  hours,  and 
we  took  a  ride  on  the  lake  together.  We  became 
well-acquainted,  and  it  was  therefore  quite  natural 
that  I  should  receive  an  invitation  to  visit  her  at  her 
home  before  my  return  to  the  city. 


GRACE  THORNE  AT  HOME. 


CHAPTER  IL 

GRACE  THORNE  AT  HOME. 

"Home  is  the  resort 
Of  love,  of  joy,  of  peace,  of  plenty;  where, 
Supporting  and  supported,  polished  friends 
And  dear  relations  mingle  into  bliss." 

—THOMSON. 

My  six  weeks  at  the  Villa  had  passed  all  too 
quickly.  In  an  ideal  spot  I  had  led  an  ideal  life. 
Hence  it  was  with  regret  that  I  began  to  think  of  my 
close  quarters  in  the  city,  and  the  hum-drum  life  that 
I  must  lead  within  its  walls.  But  such  is  life.  Where 
duty  calls  the  true  man  will  always  respond.  Six 
weeks  in  the  bosom  of  nature  had  enlarged  my  man 
hood,  and  I  felt  equal  to  any  task. 

It  was  Thursday  afternoon.  I  was  to  spend  the 
evening  with  Miss  Thome  at  her  home,  and  leave  on 
the  following  day  for  the  city.  As  I  dressed  for  the 
occasion,  my  thoughts  were  busy,  as  they  had  been 
more  or  less  for  three  weeks,  studying  this  new 
woman  whom  I  was  about  to  visit  in  her  native  lairs. 
She  was  so  different  from  other  women,  and  yet  so 
like  what  a  woman  ought  to  be.  Certainly  I  was  not 
interested  in  her  more  than  a  mere  acknowledgment 


46  THE  MODERN  NEW  WOMAN. 

of  this.  And  yet,  somehow  I  was  sorry  that  I  had  to 
leave  her,  and  fondly  hoped  that  it  would  not  be  long 
till  I  could  see  her  again. 

Still,  I  was  not  quite  sure  that  I  liked  her.  I  felt 
morally  certain  that  her  pronounced  notions  on  the 
new  woman  question  were  repulsive  to  me,  and  yet  I 
could  not  tell  exactly  why.  But  I  feared  I  would 
find  her  somewhat  loud  and  stern  in  the  home.  Cer 
tainly  a  wroman  who  wore  bloomers  and  attended 
dress  reform  conventions  could  not  be  otherwise.  I 
was  born  and  brought  up  in  Kentucky,  where  woman 
is  almost  the  idol  of  the  gallant  men.  My  mother 
and  sisters  were  representatives  of  their  sex  in  gen 
tleness  and  refinement  along  every  standard  line. 
How  this  fair  Wisconsin  lass  would  shock  their 
precious  sensibilities!  thought  I.  And  yet  why?  In 
three  weeks  I  had  not  heard  her  say  nor  seen  her  do 
a  single  indelicate  thing.  After  all,  was  it  not  Dame 
Fashion  who  ruled  opinion,  and  was  not  the  aristo 
cratic  old  thing  wrong  herself? 

Mrs.  Brown  drove  me  over  in  her  light  phaeton 
and  chaperoned  me  to  the  very  door  of  the  Thorne 
residence.  Then  with  kindly  apologies  she  excused 
herself  from  accepting  Miss  Grace's  cordial  invita 
tion  to  remain,  saying  that  she  had  several  errands 
to  attend  to,  and  promising  to  send  a  carriage  for  me 
at  10  o'clock. 

The  Thorne  residence  was  a  plain  but  roomy  old 
cottage  located  in  the  center  of  a  five-acre  plot  at  the 


BUT  FEARED  I  WOULD  FIND  HER  SOMEWHAT  LOUD 
AND  STERN  IN  THE  HOME,— Page  46. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  49 

edge  of  town.  The  grounds  were  well  kept,  and 
abounded  in  beautiful  shade  and  fruit  trees,  shrub 
bery,  blue  grass  lawns,  and  winding  gravel  drives. 
Within  were  marks  of  good  taste  everywhere  to  be 
seen.  Nothing  ostentatious  or  stiff,  but  a  general 
air  of  quiet,  sensible  refinement.  I  was  ushered  into 
the  parlor  and  shown  to  an  easy  chair.  Miss  Thorne 
threw  open  the  blinds,  gave  the  lace  curtains  a  little 
touch  or  two,  and  then  seated  herself  on  a  low  divan 
just  opposite  me. 

"I  like  the  sunshine,"  said  she,  pleasantly.  "It's 
good  medicine.  I  never  could  bear  a  close  room, 
with  no  sunshine  to  brighten  its  dreary  recesses. 
How  have  you  enjoyed  your  vacation,  Doctor?" 

"Very  much,  indeed,"  I  replied.  "Spring  Rock 
Villa  is  a  delightful  place,  and  the  Browns  are  most 
hospitable  and  kind.  I  have  gained  several  pounds 
in  flesh,  and  acquired  a  genuine  Mexican  tan." 

"Good!"  exclaimed  my  fair  friend,  clapping  her 
hands.  "How  happy  and  natural  it  is  to  be  health 
ful.  So  many  professional  people  seem  to  think  it 
incompatible  to  be  well.  I  trust  you  may  never  fall 
into  that  error." 

"But  one  cannot  always  be  well  ?"  I  questioned. 

"Why  not?  Disease  is  abnormal.  If  the  human 
family  would  live  normally  there  would  be  little 
disease.  But  with  our  present  habits  of  diet,  dress, 
rest  and  exercise,  little  wonder  that  half  the  race  is 
sick  and  the  other  half  complaining.  I  believe  it  is 


60  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

Helen  Gilbert  Ecob  who  says,  'It  is  false  civilization 
which  brings  the  refinements  of  disease'.  And  she 
is  right.  Especially  is  this  true  with  reference  to 
my  own  sex.  There  is  a  popular  notion  that  it  is 
natural  for  woman  to  be  sickly.  It  is  a  pernicious 
fallacy.  The  term  'weaker  vessel'  is  wrested  from 
its  true  meaning,  and  woman  is  practically  pro 
hibited  from  being  strong.  It  is  a  sad  mistake,  Doc 
tor,  and  it  is  high  time  that  we  were  awaking  from 
such  unreasonable  conclusions.  By  the  way,  per 
haps  you  would  like  to  see  the  library?  Then  let  us 
step  in,  and  I  will  call  your  attention  to  a  quotation 
or  two  from  some  of  my  'authorities/  as  you  ministers 
say." 

And  she  led  the  way  to  the  library,  a  cosy  room  on 
the  ground  floor  at  the  left  of  the  main  entrance  to 
the  house.  As  we  passed  across  the  hall  I  observed 
that  my  stud}7,  as  I  had  begun  to  call  her  in  my  own 
mind,  was  still  arrayed  in  bloomers.  Not  the  heavy, 
velvet  ones  she  had  worn  on  the  road,  but  a  garment 
made  out  of  some  light,  fluffy  material.  Her  hose 
were  evidently  of  silk,  while  a  pair  of  dainty  slippers 
had  taken  the  place  of  her  boots.  Her  step  was  as 
light  as  a  fairy's,  and  her  general  air  one  of  ease  and 
contentment.  It  was  refreshing. 

"What  a  pleasant  room!"  I  exclaimed,  as  we  passed 
into  the  library. 

"Yes,  I  think  so,"  said  she.  "I  spend  many  delight 
ful  hours  here.  I  like  books,  and  a  few  flowers  in 


AND  SHE  LED  THE  WAY  TO  THE  LIBRARY,  A  COZY 
ROOM  ON  THE  GROUND  FLOOR— Page  50. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  53 

summer,  and  a  glowing  grate  in  winter  adds  greatly 
to  their  charm  I  think.  This  is  the  dearest  room 
about  the  house  to  me.  Who  was  it  that  wrote  that 
little  couplet — 

"No  little  room  so  warm  and  bright, 
Wherein  to  read,  wherein  to  write?" 

Tennyson,  I  believe.  I'm  sure  you  clergymen  can  ap 
preciate  the  sentiment,  for  you  are  men  of  culture. 
Have  this  chair.  Now  let  me  see:  I  wanted  to  cite 
you  to  a  remark  of  Prof.  Cowperthwait's  on  this 
woman  question  in  wrhich  you  have  shown  so  much 
interest.  He  says:  'The  fact  that  the  female  is 
physically  inferior  to  the  male  is  not  due  so  much  to 
her  natural  organization  as  to  the  fact  that  the  mode 
of  life  which  modern  society  forces  upon  her  is  un 
natural,  and  begets  physical  degeneration.  It  is  only 
when  the  deteriorating  influence  of  refined  society 
begins  to  operate  that  we  find  the  physical  organiza 
tion  of  the  female  depreciating,  and  her  powers  of 
endurance,  as  well  as  her  capacity  of  resisting  dis 
ease,  becoming  inferior  to  those  of  the  male'.  In 
stead  of  'refined  society'  I  would  have  said  what  is 
called  refined  society.  A  truly  conducted  society 
would  give  to  woman  those  equal  advantages  with 
man  which  must  be  allowed  before  she  can  be  as 
strong.  Dr.  Kellogg  is  right  when  he  says:  'I  can 
see  no  reason  why  a  well-developed  woman  may  not 
equal  in  endurance  a  mail  of  the  same  size  and  de- 


54  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

velopmont.'  The  groat  trouble  to-day  is  that  most 
womeu  seem  to  regard  themselves  as  'pre-ordained 
to  hysterics,  tears,  and  nervous  prostration'.  She 
rarely  attempts  any  exercise  or  work  that  involves 
an  honest  outlay  of  muscle,  and  hence  she  remains 
comparatively  feeble  and  subject  to  all  sorts  of  physi 
cal  ailments.  I  believe  in  a  thorough-going  equality 
of  the  sexes,  Doctor,  and  the  world  will  never  be  what 
it  is  capable  of  being  and  ought  to  be  till  we  have  it." 

"But,  Miss  Thorne,  is  there  not  a  serious  danger 
that  woman  will  become  masculanized?1'  said  I. 

"Xo  more  than  that  men  will  become  femininized,'' 
said  she,  earnestly.  "This  idea  that  the  new  woman 
must  necessarily  be  masculine  is  all  talk,  and  ema 
nates  from  disorganized  brains  I  fear.  And  yet  I 
grant  }'ou  that  some  silly  girls  have  given  cause  for 
complaint  by  their  ridiculous  imitation  of  man's 
dress,  the  wearing  of  vests,  starched  shirt  fronts, 
male  neck-ties,  derby  hats,  etc.  Such  creatures  are 
not  representatives  of  the  new  womanhood  for  which 
we  are  praying,  but  rather  the  caricature  of  it.  It 
is  unfair  to  those  of  us  who  are  pleading  for  a  genu 
ine,  all-around  womanhood  to  hold  up  these  gum- 
chewing,  giggling,  man-aping  specimens  of  a  de 
praved  fad  as  the  outcome  of  our  efforts.  And  it  is 
unjust  to  blame  all  equal  rights  advocates  for  the 
presence  in  the  world  nowr  and  then  of  an  iron-willed, 
coarse,  rule-or-ruin-spirited  woman.  There  have  al 
ways  been  chicken-hearted  men,  and  there  will  al- 


10U  MUST  KNOW  THAT  THE  NEW  WOMAN  RIDES 
A  STRADDLE.— Page  57. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  57 

ways  be  donkey-hearted  women  I  suppose ;  but  both 
are  excrescences,  and  should  not  be  taken  as  repre 
sentatives. — But  come,  Doctor,  let  us  take  a  stroll 
through  the  garden." 

"With  pleasure,"  said  I. 

She  donned  a  light  summer  hat,  and  gaily  led  the 
way.  We  wandered  aimlessly  among  the  trees  and 
flowers,  now  stopping  to  examine  some  choice  shrub, 
or  to  enjoy  the  fragrance  of  some  favorite  blossom. 
Meanwhile  my  lady  talked  fluently,  never  tiring. 
And  I  was  amazed  at  her  knowledge  of  botany.  She 
knew  the  name  of  every  plant,  and  could  analyze 
with  the  skill  of  a  professor.  Upon  reaching  the 
stables  in  the  course  of  our  saunterings,  I  was  again 
surprised  to  see  my  study  enter  the  stalls  and  pet 
the  horses.  She  knew  each  animal  by  name,  and  pat 
ted  their  respective  necks  and  stroked  their  manes 
with  the  delight  of  a  child. 

"Do  you  ride  horse-back,  Miss  Thorne?"  I  asked. 

"Oh,  certainly,"  said  she.  "But  not  upon  the  cus 
tomary  side-saddle.  It  may  shock  you,  Doctor,  but 
you  must  know  that  the  new  woman  rides  a-straddle. 
I  use  a  common  saddle,  and  can  manage  a  horse  as 
well  as  the  most  dexterous  cow-boy,  I  fancy." 

"A-straddle!"  I  exclaimed,  and  I  felt  almost  like 
apologizing  for  using  such  indelicate  words.  "Why, 
Miss  Thorne?" 

"Because  it's  sensible.  WThy  should  a  woman  ride 
otherwise?  It's  barbarous — no,  it  is  worse  than  that, 


58  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

for  barbarous  women  do  not  ride  sideways.  I  do  not 
know  who  invented  such  a  custom,  but  it  certainly 
has  no  place  in  this  enlightened  age.  But  it's  a 
necessary  accompaniment  of  skirts.  Side  saddles 
are  both  ugly  and  dangerous,  but  they  are  a  neces 
sity  so  long  as  women  wear  skirts.  With  bloomers 
one  can  ride  in  the  only  natural  and  sensible  way,  a- 
straddle.  I  have  been  riding  so  two  years  or  more. 
At  first  the  neighbors  were  dazed,  and  hopelessly  in 
quired  of  each  other,  What  will  that  girl  do  next? 
But  they  gradually  became  accustomed  to  it,  other 
ladies  joined  the  procession,  and  now  it  is  quite  com 
mon  in  Smithville  to  see  ladies  riding  a-straddle.  II 
is  strange  to  me,  Doctor,  that  so  progressive  a  people 
as  Americans  should  tolerate  so  many  heathenish 
customs." 

"Yes,  very  strange,"  said  I,  for  I  did  not  know  what 
else  to  say. 

Returning  toward  the  house,  we  came  to  a  large 
open  space,  surrounded  by  rustic  seats  and  great 
shade  trees. 

"Ah,  here's  our  exercise  grounds,"  explained  Miss 
Thorne  in  answer  to  my  questioning  look.  "Sister 
and  I  spend  an  hour  here  each  day.  We  used  to  have 
rare  sport  here  together  before  brother  married  and 
moved  to  the  city.  He  was  very  muscular — a  splen 
did  athlete.  And  yet,  Doctor,  I  beg  leave  to  inform 
you  that  he  could  excel  me  in  very  few  feats." 

And  by  way  of  illustration  she  picked  up  a  pole 


AND  BY  WAY  OP  ILLUSTRATION,  SHE  PICKED  UP  A 
POLE  AND  VAULTED.— Page  58. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  61 

and  vaulted  fully  eight  feet.  And  then  she  put  the 
iron  shot  a  phenomenally  long  distance.  Gathering 
up  a  heavy  pair  of  dumb-bells  she  twirled  them  a  few 
times  about  her  head,  and  then,  scratching  a  mark 
with  the  toe  of  her  slipper,  jumped  farther  than  I 
could  have  done  to  save  my  life,  and  when  in  college 
I  had  prided  myself  somewhat  in  this  art.  She  ban 
tered  me  for  a  foot  race,  but  I  blushingly  protested, 
urging  that  I  had  no  reputation  as  a  sprinter. 

"But  I  see  you  have  a  fine  tennis  court,"  said  I. 
"Suppose  we  try  ouv  hands  at  a  game  of  tennis?" 

"Agreed!" 

But  she  beat  me  bidly. 

At  last  we  found  ourselves  in  the  parlor  again,  and 
although  my  study  seemed  as  fresh  and  sprightly  as 
when  we  started  on  our  jaunt,  I  felt  quite  weary,  and 
glad  of  an  opportunity  to  rest.  Perhaps  the  many 
surprises  of  the  hour  had  had  as  much  to  do  with 
fatiguing  me  as  the  exercise;  I  shall  not  say.  But 
at  any  rate  the  easy  chair  felt  good,  and  I  remembered 
that  I  had  an  appetite. 

"Now,  Doctor,  you  will  excuse  me  please,"  said  my 
gifted  entertainer,  as  she  handed  me  a  late  magazine. 
"1  must  go  and  help  about  dinner." 

And  before  I  could  recover  my  senses  she  had  gone 
like  a  flash  of  sunshine.  The  room  actually  seemed 
dark,  and  I  wondered  whether  my  fair  enchantress 
were  not  a  hypnotist.  Help  about  the  dinner?  Is 
that  a  part  of  the  code  of  this  new  womanhood? 


52  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

thought  I.  Well,  if  so,  all  hail!  For  it  is  an  axiom 
that  the  nearest  route  to  man's  heart  is  through  his 
stomach,  and  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  the  average 
domestic  never  reaches  the  heart  in  that  way. 

Promptly  at  seven  dinner  was  announced.  Mr. 
Thome  had  left  his  store  at  six.  I  was  favorably  im 
pressed  with  both  himself  and  his  sweet-faced  com 
panion.  Mrs.  Thome  was  fifty,  I  judged,  and  as  per 
fect  a  specimen  of  well-rounded  womanhood  as  one 
often  meets.  The  younger  daughter,  Miss  Joseph 
ine,  was  a  close  imitation  of  her  sister,  though  not  so 
mature  and  self-poised.  It  was  an  interesting  fam 
ily,  and  the  dinner  hour  was  pleasantly  spent. 

"Will  you  have  another  piece  of  cake?"  said  Misa 
Grace,  just  as  we  were  concluding  the  sixth  and  last 
course. 

"Upon  one  consideration,"  said  I. 

"What  is  it?" 

"That  you  inform  me  who  made  it." 

"With  pleasure.    I  did." 

T  expected  her  to  apologize,  and  say  that  it  was 
not  as  good  as  she  had  hoped.  But  she  did  nothing 
of  the  kind.  She  was  the  most  unusual  girl  I  had 
ever  met. 

"You  probably  observed  that  our  menu  was  very 
plain,  Doctor,"  continued  Miss  Grace.  "We  are  all 
enthusiasts  over  plain,  wholesome  food.  We  are  par 
ticular  as  to  what  we  eat,  and  as  to  how  it  is  cooked. 
The  quantity  is  a  minor  consideration.  Papa  does 


PROMPTLY    AT     SEVEN     DINNER    WAS     SERVED, 
Page  62. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  65 

all  the  marketing,  and  he  will  pardon  me  for  saying 
in  his  presence  that  he  is  a  wise  and  careful  pur 
chaser.  He  buys  nothing  simply  because  it  is  cheap. 
And  when  it  comes  to  the  preparation  of  what  he 
buys  for  the  table,  I  guess  that  mamma,  sister  and  I 
are  about  equally  matched  in  ability.  Sometimes  one 
oversees  the  cooking,  and  sometimes  another.  We 
never  trust  Bridget  alone.  Cookery  is  a  fine  art,  and 
we  think  should  be  studied  as  such.  Poor  cookery  is 
a  very  prolific  cause  of  disease." 

"And  divorce,"  added  Mr.  Thorne.  "Sad  biscuits 
have  caused  many  a  sad  home.  I  am  proud  to  say 
that  my  daughters  are  both  excellent  cooks,  Doctor. 
Their  mother  trained  them  religiously  in  the  art,  and 
whether  it  falls  to  their  lot  to  bake  a  cake  or  turn  a 
steak,  they  can  do  it  as  nicely  as  any  chef.  And  then 
they  have  studied  dietetics.  I  am  a  firm  believer  in 
the  theory  that  we  can  make  or  unmake  disease  by 
the  food  we  eat.  For  instance,  when  I  was  a  boy  I 
used  to  eat  pork  and  buckwheat  all  winter.  The  re 
sult  was  thick  blood  and  boils  in  the  spring.  Now  I 
eat  no  pork,  and,  in  fact,  very  little  meat  of  any  kind. 
While  not  strictly  a  vegetarian,  I  am  very  partial  to 
cereals.  We  eat  plentifully  of  fruit,  nuts  and  vege 
tables.  Hence  wife  and  I  have  passed  the  'dead  line 
of  fifty'  in  the  primest  of  health,  and,  barring  acci 
dents,  we  fully  expect  to  cover  another  half  century 
each  before  we  depart  this  life." 

"All  you  say  sounds  reasonable,"  said  I.  "But  I 


66  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

confess  tli.it  I  have  never  given  these  questions  ranch 
attention." 

"But  pardon  me,  Doctor,  you  should  do  so,"  con 
tinued  the  old  gentleman  pleasantly.  "Ministers,  as 
a  rule,  are  the  hardest  worked  of  an}7  professional 
class,  and  perhaps  oftenest  break  down  in  health.  I 
have  been  long  persuaded  that  it  is  not  work  that 
kills  so  much  as  improper  habits  of  life.  Poorly  se 
lected  and  still  more  poorly  cooked  food,  irregular 
hours,  worry — here  lies  the  cause  of  the  majority  of 
break-downs.  There  are  about  350  colleges  in  this 
country.  Could  I  have  my  way  I  should  establish  a 
school  of  cookery  in  connection  with  each,  and  then, 
rich  or  poor,  high  or  low,  every  student  should  be 
compelled  to  give  this  grave  subject  due  considera 
tion.  Had  I  a  dozen  daughters,  I  should  feel  that 
their  education  wras  incomplete  till  every  one  had 
learned  to  do  well  everything  in  the  kitchen,  from 
scrubbing  the  floor  to  making  a  bridal  cake." 

"I  am  very  much  interested  in  what  you  say,  Mr. 
Thorne,"  I  replied,  "and  I  promise  you  that  I  will 
think  seriously  on  this  subject.  There  is  undoubtedly 
more  in  it  than  the  average  student  imagines." 

Dinner  over,  we  all  repaired  to  the  parlor.  I  ob 
served  that  the  younger  of  the  daughters  also  wore 
bloomers  like  her  sister.  And  she  was  almost  as  at 
tractive.  My  antipathy  was  fast  fading  away,  and  I 
began  to  feel  more  bold  in  discussing  the  theme.  Mrs. 
Thorne  did  not  wear  bloomers.  I  wondered  why,  and 
so  inquired,  somewhat  shyly: 


A    STYLE    OP    DRESS    CONSIDERED    QUITE    PROPER 
THESE  DAYS.— Page  69. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  69 

"You  have  not  abandoned  the  custom  of  our  moth 
ers  with  references  to  skirts,  I  see,  Mrs.  Thome." 

"No,  but  I  should  be  only  too  glad  to  do  so.  Mrs. 
Brown  and  I  have  often  considered  the  matter,  but  as 
yet  we  have  been  too  timid  to  dare  it.  I  trust  the 
day  is  not  far  distant  when  women  can  dress  sensibly 
without  exciting  comment." 

"By  the  way,  Doctor,"  said  Miss  Grace,  "I  presume 
you  remember  how  the  lords  of  Chicago  not  long  ago 
ruled  that  a  lady  in  bloomers  was  a  proper  subject 
for  arrest  if  seen  on  the  streets  of  that  pure-eyed 
city?  What  a  travesty  on  justice!  But  the  world  is 
advancing.  Only  a  few  years  ago  a  lady  was  ar 
rested  in  a  Western  city  for  wearing  a  'Mother  Hub- 
bard,'  now  a  style  of  dress  that  is  considered  quite 
proper.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  we  will 
emerge  from  the  dark  ages  on  this  subject  of  dress, 
and  then  the  world  will  be  better." 

"All  of  which  is  very  good  and  true,"  remarked  Mr. 
Thome.  "But  perhaps  the  Doctor  would  enjoy  a  lit 
tle  music,  daughters?" 

"Most  assuredly,"  said  I. 

And  without  the  customary  begging,  the  young 
ladies  stepped  to  the  piano.  Miss  Grace  acted  as  ac 
companist  and  also  took  the  soprano  part  in  a  clear, 
rich  voice,  while  Miss  Josephine  sang  the  alto  and 
turned  the  leaves.  Several  duets  were  rendered  most 
charmingly,  and  then  Miss  Grace  played  some  from 
Beethoven  and  Liszt.  I  had  heard  great  performers, 


70  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

but  none  who  so  enlisted  my  sympathies.  She  played 
without  affectation,  as  she  did  everything  else,  but 
with  a  soul-power  and  faultlessness  of  technique  that 
astonished  me.  Here  was  a  girl  that  seemed  to  be 
equally  at  home  in  the  library,  the  lawn,  the  kitchen 
and  the  parlor.  And  she  was  no  novice.  Few  could 
equal  her  in  whatever  she  undertook.  This  was  de 
lightful,  and  I  secretly  prayed,  oh,  Lord,  give  this 
poor  old  world  more  like  her,  bloomers  and  all! 

Arising  from  the  instrument,  she  tarried  awhile 
at  her  father's  side,  throwing  her  pretty  arm  around 
his  neck  and  gently  toying  with  his  curly  gray  locks 
as  only  a  loving  daughter  can  toy,  and  presently  re 
sumed  her  place  on  the  low  divan  where  she  had  first 
sat  upon  my  arrival.  As  she  caressed  her  father, 
something  said  to  me,  Wouldn't  it  be  nice  if  you  were 
her  father?  But  I  stifled  the  thought.  For  shame! 
said  my  better  conscience.  You  are  not  worthy  to  be 
such  a  girl's  father.  And  I'm  quite  sure  I  wasn't. 

Another  hour  of  pleasant  conversation,  in  which 
books,  music,  fashion,  politics,  and  a  little  of  every 
thing  played  a  part,  in  all  of  which  I  found  that  my 
study  was  admirably  posted,  and  I  took  my  depart 
ure,  with  the  kindest  of  invitations  to  return  if  ever 
convenient  to  do  so.  Burying  myself  in  the  cushions 
of  the  carriage,  I  dreamed  with  my  eyes  open  all  the 
way  to  the  villa,  concluding  with  the  mental  ejacula 
tion  as  I  reached  the  gate: 

''Well,  I'll  see  more  of  you,  heaven  willing." 


A  QUARREL 
WITH  MOTHER  GRUNDY. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

A  QUARREL  WITH  MOTHER  GRUNDY. 

"I'll  be  at  charge  for  a  looking-glass; 
And  entertain  a  score  or  two  of  tailors, 
To  study  fashions  to  adorn  my  body. 
Since  I  am  crept  in  favor  with  myself, 
I  will  maintain  it  with  some  little  cost." 

—RICHARD  III. 

"Back  again!" 

"Back  again,  my  good  brother,"  said  I. 

It  was  my  sexton,  and  we  were  right  glad  to  see 
each  other.  The  sexton  of  a  church  is  usually  sup 
posed  to  be  a  man  of  bad  heart,  shiftless  manners  and 
worthless  soul.  But  in  my  parish  it  was  not  so. 
Uncle  John  was  a  good,  hard-working,  painstaking, 
wide-awake  old  Scotchman.  He  had  seen  better  days 
in  the  highlands,  but  through  a  chain  of  circum 
stances  over  which  he  had  had  no  control,  he  had 
been  reduced  to  poverty,  and  in  his  old  age  was  com 
pelled  to  earn  his  daily  bread  at  manual  toil. 

"And  how  has  everything  gone?"  said  L 

"Just  fairly  wael,  dominie,"  said  he. 

The  old  man  always  called  me  "dominie."  But  I 
freely  forgave  him  little  eccentricities  like  that,  for 


74  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

among  all  my  friends  I  had  none  more  valuable  nor 
more  true. 

"Well,  Uncle,  tell  me  all  about  it,"  said  I. 

And  in  his  quaint,  old  dialect  he  rehearsed  the  do 
ings  of  the  people  during  my  absence,  collectively 
and  individually,  so  far  as  he  knew,  and  what  he 
didn't  know  was  hardly  worth  knowing,  I  suppose. 
Like  any  flock  in  the  absence  of  its  shepherd,  they  had 
scattered  somewhat  and  some  of  them  had  gotten 
into  mischief.  But  our  large  auditorium  was  soon 
filled  again,  and  the  work  took  on  its  old-time  enthus 
iasm.  My  outing  had  given  tone  to  every  power,  and 
my  heavy  duties  now  seemed  light. 

Winter  came,  and  with  it  an  endless  round  of  re 
ceptions,  balls,  dinners,  theater  parties  and  other- 
popular  pitfalls  for  the  tender  saint.  Many  of  my 
members  moved  in  aristocratic  circles,  and  I  had  al 
ways  imagined  that  it  must  be  quite  proper  to  do  so  if 
one  had  the  capital  and  inclination.  Personally,  I 
seldom  went  out,  except  to  my  various  church  gath 
erings,  and  so  knew  very  little  of  society.  Occa 
sionally  I  spent  the  evening  wdth  the  Browns,  who 
had  returned  from  their  villa  early  in  October,  and 
wl\o  cared  as  little  as  myself  for  the  doings  of  the 
"four  hundred." 

But  at  last  I  became  aroused.  A  spiritual  pall 
seemed  to  be  hanging  over  my  people.  While  the 
services  were  elegant,  there  were  few  conversions. 
And  for  the  first  time  in  my  ministry  I  noticed  that 


THERE  WERE  APPARENTLY  NO  POOR,  BUT  ONLY 
THE  RICH  AND  REFINED —Page  77. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  77 

among  the  crowds  that  came  to  worship  with  us 
there  were  apparently  no  poor,  but  only  the  rich  and 
refined.  So  one  day  I  concluded 'to  "go  slumming" 
and  see  if  I  could  learn  what  was  the  matter.  It  had 
become  very  popular  for  preachers  to  visit  the  sore 
spots  of  our  metropolis,  and  then  deliver  sensational 
sermons  on  the  subject.  But  I  did  not  go  with  any 
such  an  idea.  I  merely  wanted  to  see  and  learn 
what  I  could  writh  a  view  to  solving  the  problem  of 
non-church  attendance  on  the  part  of  the  poor  who 
were  in  easy  walking  distance  of  my  church.  Clad  in 
a  business  suit,  I  visited  the  home  of  many  poverty- 
stricken  and  degraded  people. 

"Why  do  you  not  attend  church?"  I  asked  again 
and  again,  now  of  some  horny-handed  laborer,  and 
then  of  some  tired  children  and  dirt-bedraggled 
mother. 

"What  has  the  church  done  for  us?"  was  the  in 
variable  answer.  "Rich  people  can  go  to  church,  but 
it  is  no  place  for  us  poor  devils." 

"I  am  sure  you  do  the  church  an  injustice,"  I  would 
argue.  "My  people  would  be  delighted  to  see  the 
pews  filled  with  the  poor  at  every  service." 

"Don't  you  believe  it,  parson,"  said  an  old  washer 
woman.  "They  may  talk  that  way  in  prayer  meetin' 
sometimes,  but  if  I  should  go  there  with  my  four 
children  some  bright  Sunday,  their  looks  would 
freeze  us  out.  No,  no.  Religion  is  all  right,  I  reckon, 
but  church  folks  is  awful  stuck  up  nowadays.  They 


78  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

needn't  be,  though,  for  I've  seen  enough  with  these 
old  eyes  of  mine  to  know  that  some  as  live  in  big 
houses  on  the  boulevard  is  no  nearer  heaven  than  us 
poor  trash  as  has  to  work  for  a  livinV 

It  was  no  use  to  parley.  After  several  excursions 
among  the  homes  of  the  lower  classes,  some  by  day 
and  some  by  night,  I  returned  to  my  study  with  a 
heavy  heart.  There  seemed  to  be  an  invulnerable 
prejudice  among  the  poor  of  all  classes  against  the 
rich  and  their  churches.  Mine  was  no  exception  I 
learned  from  authentic  sources.  I  found  that  in  Chi 
cago,  as  in  England,  the  "submerged  tenth"  were 
low-browed,  low-spirited,  and  low-lived.  And  yet  the 
remark  of  the  old  washer-woman,  that  her  despised 
class  were  as  near  heaven  as  many  of  the  upper  ten- 
dom,  compelled  me  to  think.  At  first  I  did  not  be 
lieve  it.  But  in  order  to  satisfy  myself  thoroughly,  I 
concluded  to  inaugurate  a  series  of  investigations.  I 
entered  society  with  all  the  alacrity  of  a  debutante. 
Having  numerous  friends  that  were  on  the  top  wave, 
I  found  no  difficulty  in  getting  into  the  swim. 

Six  weeks'  experience  and  observation  convinced 
me  that  the  laundress  was  right.  Beneath  the  glare 
and  glitter  of  gilded  society,  I  had  detected  sepul- 
chers  of  moral  filth  that  astonished  me  beyond  meas 
ure.  Much  against  my  will  I  had  become  convinced 
that  hundreds  of  both  sexes  who  move  in  the  so- 
called  best  society,  and  stood  high  in  church  circles, 
were  morally  rotten  to  the  core.  *  Vanity,  vanity,  van- 


BENEATH  THE  GLARE  AND  GLITTER  OF  GILDED  SO 
CIETY,  I  HAD  DEFECTED  SEPULCHERS  OP  MORAL 
FILTH  THAT  ASTONISHED  MB  BEYOND  MEASURE. 
Page  78. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  81 

ity!  thought  I.  Truly  King  Solomon  was  a  wise 
scribe.  I  could  hold  my  tongue  no  longer.  So,  on 
the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  189G,  I  delivered  a  sermon 
that  seriously  offended  Mother  Grundy,  and  the  old 
dame  at  once  set  a  thousand  tongues  a- wagging. 
Among  other  things,  I  said: 

"Beloved,  my  mind  has  been  greatly  exercised  for 
some  months  over  certain  conditions  which  seem  to 
threaten  the  welfare  of  the  church.  We  have  no 
poor  people  in  our  services.  Upon  visiting  among 
them  for  days,  I  discovered  a  deep  and  bitter  prej 
udice  existing  against  the  church  because  of  its  lack 
of  sympathy  with  the  lower  classes,  and  because  of 
its  worldliness.  It  was  argued  that  my  people  were 
no  nearer  heaven  than  those  who  made  no  preten 
sions.  Accordingly  I  threw  off  clerical  conservatism 
for  a  time  and  entered  society.  I  attended  all  sorts 
of  bon-ton  gatherings,  and  studiously  examined  every 
thread  in  your  social  fabric.  The  result  is  a  burdened 
heart.  Although  dressed  in  soft  garments  like  those 
who  sit  in  kings'  houses,  and  protected  by  the  silken 
cords  of  elite  society,  there  are  hypocrites  of  the  worst 
tpye  before  me  to-day.  You  have  been  often  here, 
joining  in  our  songs  and  partaking  of  the  holy  sac 
rament.  But,  like  Bishop  Burrows  of  London,  I  have 
not  dared  till  now  to  say  a  word  that  might  offend 
you.  And  as  he  said  to  his  people,  so  I  must  say  to 
you,  'there  are  ladies  whose  faces  I  see  here  to-day 
with  whom  no  deceat  tradesman's  wife  or  daughter 


82  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

would  associate.'  You  would  never  suspect  it,  but  I 
have  seen  some  of  your  society  belles  smoking  opium 
in  infamous,  but  gilded  dives.  I  have  listened  to  your 
insipid  conversation,  and  watched  your  sensual  flir 
tations  till  my  nerves  were  benumbed.  I  have  studied 
every  phase  of  the  dance  question,  carefully  witness 
ing  the  outcome  all  the  way  from  parlor  quadrilles  to 
ball-room  waltzes,  and  I  ana  compelled  to  say  that  I 
solemnly  believe  the  testimony  of  numerous  hack 
drivers  that  this  popular  but  devilish  amusement  has 
made  many  a  private  carriage  a  bed  on  wheels,  and 
many  a  wealthy  home  a  house  of  easy  morals! 

"Sometime  ago  I  delivered  a  prelude  on  'fads  that 
will  become  permanent  customs,'  you  will  remember. 
On  that  occasion  I  advocated  the  wearing  of  bloom 
ers.  Some  of  you  precious  matrons  and  heavenly 
damsels  affected  to  be  shocked.  You  said  that  your 
pastor  should  be  ashamed  to  espouse  the  cause  of  so 
vulgar  a  fashion.  And  yet  I  have  seen  you  self-same 
critics  in  decolette  costumes  in  the  ball-room,  shame 
fully  exposing  your  nakedness — sporting  a  dress  a 
hundred  times  more  vulgar  than  the  harmless  and 
sensible  bloomers  you  so  strenuously  oppose. 

"Oh,  my  dear  people!  Your  whole  course  is  wrong, 
frightfully  wrong.  Society  as  at  present  conducted  is 
making  libertines  of  our  men,  and  polished  profli 
gates  of  our  women.  It  is  dwarfing  both  soul  and 
body.  It  develops  a  useless  class, of  novel-reading, 
ease-taking,  money-spending,  virtue-breaking,  health- 


I  HAVE  SEEN  SOME  OF  YOUR  SOCIETY  BELLES 
SMOKING  OPIUM  IN  INFAMOUS,  BUT  GILDED 
DIVES— Page  82. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  85 

wrecking,  gnat-straining  imitations  of  a  true  man 
hood  and  womanhood.  Out  upon  it!  As  for  me,  I 
would  turn  from  the  past  and  call  you  to  repentance. 
Let  us  clean  up,  and  present  a  better  picture  to  a  lost 
and  ruined  world.  There  are  a  thousand  better  ways 
in  which  to  spend  our  time,  strength  and  money  than 
in  the  idiotic  whirl  of  a  depraved  and  hell-besmirched 
society.  Let  us  enlarge  our  house,  make  all  seats 
free,  and  then  go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges 
and  compel  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  halt,  and  the 
blind  to  come  in.  Man's  greatest  mission  is  to  serve. 
To  bear  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  one  of  God's  little  ones 
is  better  than  to  take  a  city.  What  seems  right  in  so 
ciety,  religion,  politics  and  everywhere  is  often 
wrong;  and  what  seems  wrong  is  often  right.  The 
Word  of  God  is  our  only  infallible  guide.  Remember 
ing  this,  may  we  set  ourselves  in  order  and  enter  upon 
a  season  of  real  progress  along  every  private  and 
public  line." 

The  effect  of  this  deliverance  was  like  that  of  a 
cyclone  let  loose  in  the  congregation.  Some  arose 
and  left  the  building  in  disgust.  Others  frowned 
and  bit  their  lips.  A  few  nodded  approval.  Among 
the  last  named  were  Banker  Brown  and  his  good 
wife,  than  whom  I  had  no  truer  friends.  The  ser 
mon  was  published  in  full  in  several  of  the  daily 
papers,  and  forthwith  precipitated  a  storm.  All 
classes  discussed  the  matter,  and  the  news  of  the 
commotion  goon  spread  from  ocean  to  ocean, 


86  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

out  intending  to  be  sensational,  I  had  innocently  pro 
voked  the  greatest  sensation  of  the  season.  Many 
condemned  me  and  my  utterances  in  the  most  violent, 
terms,  while  a  goodly  number  expressed  their  agree 
ment.  At  any  rate,  a  revival  spirit  was  quickened 
in  many  churches  all  over  the  land,  a  general  self- 
examination  was  begun,  and  thousands  were  made 
better  men  and  women,  I  trust. 

In  rny  own  church  the  effect  promised  to  be  disas 
trous  at  first.  A  large  and  influential  element 
promptly  insisted  on  my  resignation.  But  a  majority 
of  the  officiary  were  opposed  to  my  leaving.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances,  I  should  have  stepped  down 
and  out  very  quickly.  But  as  it  was,  I  felt  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  remain,  which  I  did.  More  than  100  of  my 
flock  called  for  letters  of  dismissal,  however,  and  thus 
was  inaugurated  a  revival  in  the  church  which  con 
tinued  for  many  weeks,  and  resulted  in  a  mighty  in 
gathering,  scores  coming  from  among  the  laboring 
classes,  as  well  as  from  the  higher  walks  of  life.  The 
spiritual  life  of  the  congregation  was  revolutionized, 
and  the  usefulness  of  the  church  multiplied  many 
fold. 

While  the  excitement  over  my  sermon  was  at  its 
highest,  I  was  surprised  one  morning  on  opening  my 
mail  to  find  a  letter  post-marked  "Smithville."  It 
was  addressed  in  a  bold,  running  hand,  and  at  first  I 
could  not  imagine  from  whom  it  could  have  come. 
Breaking  the  seal,  I  read  as  follows: 


SPORTING  A  DRESS  A  HUNDRED  TIMES  MORE  VUL 
GAR  THAN  THE  HARMLESS  AND  SENSIBLE  BLOOM 
ERS  YOU  SO  STRENUOUSLY  OPPOSE.— Page  82. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  89 

Smithville,  Wis.,  March  1,  1896. 
Rev.  Dr.  Frank  Gharlton,  Chicago,  111. 

Dear  Sir — Having  read  your  sermon  as  published 
in  the  daily  papers,  I  hasten  to  congratulate  you  on 
the  stand  you  have  taken  for  the  right.  Do  not 
flinch.  Criticisms  will  be  hurled  upon  you  from  every 
source,  but  remember  that  the  price  of  progress  is 
that  bravery  which  dares  to  defend  principle.  Hold 
your  ground  like  the  true  man  that  I  believe  you  to 
be,  and  you  will  never  lack  for  honorable  and  capa 
ble  friends  and  supporters  in  your  fight  against  the 
evils  of  this  corrupt  decade.  Believe  me  to  be 

Sincerely, 
GRACE  THORNE. 

To  say  that  I  was  pleased  is  but  lightly  to  express 
it.  I  was  intoxicated  with  delight.  Although  I  had 
not  seen  Miss  Thome  since  that  pleasant  September 
evening  spent  at  her  home,  I  had  by  no  means  for 
gotten  her.  Not  a  line  had  passed  between  us.  And 
yet  she  had  grown  to  be  more  and  more  to  my  life 
every  day.  But  she  seemed  inapproachable.  I  never 
could  bring  myself  to  dare  to  write  her.  Now  that 
the  ice  was  broken,  I  gladly  began  a  most  pleasant 
and  profitable  correspondence  with  this  remarkable 
woman.  With  each  letter  I  was  more  and  more  im 
pressed  with  her  originality  and  maturity  of  thought, 
her  unfeigned  sincerity  and  her  tremendous  earnest 
ness. 


90  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

"What  do  you  think  of  Miss  Thorne  by  this  timeV;' 
said  Mrs.  Brown  abruptly  one  evening  as  I  was  (lin 
ing  at  the  banker's  hospitable  home. 

"Why  do  3rou  ask?''  said  I,  somewhat  puzzled. 

"Because  I  admire  her  very  much  myself,  and  am 
anxious  that  others  shall,  especially  my  pastor,  with 
whom,  she  inadvertently  informed  me,  she  is  corre 
sponding,"  said  Mrs.  Brown.  "She  is  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  the  new  woman,  Doctor,  and  I  only  hope 
her  letters  delight  you  as  they  do  me.  Among  all 
my  correspondents  I  have  none  for  whose  letters  I 
look  so  anxiously." 

"Ditto,  Mrs.  Brown,"  said  I.  "My  correspondence 
with  Miss  Thorne  has  been  delightful,  indeed,  to  me, 
and  I  can  truly  say  that  I  admire  her  very  much.  As 
you  know,  I  have  long  since  lost  my  antipathy  for 
bloomers,  consequently  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  us 
being  the  best  of  friends." 

"You  will  pardon  me,  Doctor,"  said  Mrs.  Brown, 
earnestly,  "but  I  wish  to  say  to  you  frankly  that  I 
should  be  gratified  beyond  expression  to  see  you  more 
than  friends.  I  would  not  pose  as  a  match-maker,  for 
I  believe  that  all  true  unions  are  planned  in  heaven ; 
but  I  would  simply  suggest  the  matter  to  you,  and 
urge  that  what  you  do  be  done  quickly." 

"Why  this  haste,  Mrs.  Brown?"  said  I. 

"Because  you  need  just  such  a  helper  in  your  great 
work  as  Miss  Grace  would  be.  A  man's  only  half 
equipped  i'or  life's  battle  till  he's  married.  And  then 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  91 

she  is  just  at  that  age  when  it  is  perilous  for  one  to 
move  slowly  if  he  would  win  her." 

"But,  Mrs,  Brown,  I  am  not  sure  that  I  wish  to 
marry.  And  if  I  were,  I  am  not  sure  that  Miss  Thome 
would  be  my  choice.  She  is  an  admirable  lady — in 
fact,  I  know  of  none  for  whom  I  entertain  greater  re 
spect.  But  just  at  present  I  am  so  deeply  absorbed 
with  my  work  that  I  fear  I  would  make  her  a  poor 
husband  even  if  she  could  be,  induced  to  have  me. 
However,  I  will  think  about  it,"  said  I,  laughingly. 

"Well,  think  fast  and  hard,"  said  the  banker's  wife. 
"She  has  many  suitors." 

That  night  I  retired  late.  The  conversation  with 
Mrs.  Brown  had  precipitated  new  and  strange 
thoughts  in  my  mind.  After  all,  she  was  right.  I 
did  need  a  helper.  Miss  Thome  was  certainly  well 
qualified  to  fill  the  bill.  She  was  now  at  the  age  when 
most  girls  of  her  station  marry.  She  had  many  suit 
ors.  All  these  things  passed  and  repassed  through 
my  brain  as  I  meditated  before  a  glowing  grate. 

But  she  was  so  pronounced  in  her  views  and  habits. 
What  would  my  friends  say?  Ah!  Mother  Grundy, 
that  matters  little.  I've  had  one  tilt  with  you,  and 
I'm  ready  for  another  if  necessary. 

She  has  many  suitors.  Well,  what  of  it!  She  is 
under  no  obligations  to  me,  nor  I  to  her.  And  yet,  I 
don't  like  it.  Many  suitors!  Well,  we  will  see  about 
that. 

And  I  turned  to  my  desk  and  wrote  as  follows: 


92  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

Chicago,  April  15,  189(5. 
Miss  Grace  Thome,  Smithville,  Wis. 

Esteemed  Friend — Your  last  kind  letter  was  re 
ceived  three  days  ago.  As  usual,  its  perusal  afforded 
me  much  pleasure.  Concerning  your  questions,  rela 
tive  to  the  various  reform  movements  with  which  I 
am  humbly  identified,  I  would  respectfully  waive  an 
answer  until  I  can  see  you  personally.  Am  sure  I 
can  make  the  subject  much  more  interesting  and 
profitable  to  you  in  this  way  than  by  writing  any 
number  of  pages. 

Feeling  somewhat  overworked,  anyhow,  I  am  con 
fident  a  few  days  in  the  country  wrould  be  of  benefit  to 
me.  My  friend  Brown  is  going  out  to  his  villa  next 
week  to  make  preliminary  arrangements  for  the  an 
nual  outing,  and  has  asked  me  to  run  out  with  him. 
If  it  would  suit  your  convenience  and  pleasure  for 
me  to  spend  an  afternoon  and  evening  at  your  home 
again,  I  will  come.  The  memory  of  my  former  visit, 
and  your  kind  hospitality,  makes  me  bold  to  solicit 
a  similar  experience. 

Please  remember  me  to  your  parents  and  sister, 
and  favor  me  with  an  immediate  reply. 

Respectfully  Yours, 
FRANK  CHARLTON. 

It  was  a  very  simple  affair,  but,  contrary  to  all  my 
experience  in  letter  writing,  I  was  compelled  to  re 
write  it  three  times,  and  must  have  read  it  over  a 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  93 

dozen.  When  I  had  finished  the  task,  my  fire  had 
gone  out  and  the  room  was  growing  cool.  I  put  on 
my  great  coat  and  wrent  out  to  the  corner  mail  box. 
The  stars  were  peeping  down  from  every  quarter  of 
the  sky.  Save  the  monotonous  foot-falls  of  a  sleepy 
policeman  who  was  doing  his  beat,  everything  was 
still.  I  returned  to  my  room  and  was  soon  dreaming 
of  blue  eyes  and  bloomers. 


AN   AFFAIR  OF  THE  HEART. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

AN  AFFAIR  OF  THE  HEART. 

"Something  the  heart  must  have  to  cherish, 

Must  love,  and  joy,  and  sorrow  learn; 
Something  with  passion  clasp,  or  perish, 

And  in  itself  to  ashes  burn." 

—LONGFELLOW. 

Of  course,  the  reply  was  quick  and  favorable.  A 
most  hearty  invitation  was  extended,  and  I  began 
preparations  at  once  for  the  trip.  While  down  town 
doing  a  little  shopping,  I  ran  into  the  bank  and  was 
shown  to  Mr.  Brown's  private  office. 

"I'm  here  to  say  that  your  invitation  is  accepted, 
Mr.  Brown,"  said  I.  "After  some  consideration,  I've 
concluded  to  go.  I'm  a  little  jaded  from  the  heavy 
duties  of  the  past  few  months,  and  a  few  days  at  the 
villa  will  do  me  good." 

"Eight,  sir!"  said  the  banker  in  his  hearty  manner. 
"I'm  glad  you  have  decided  to  accompany  me.  We'll 
take  our  guns,  for  duck  hunting  is  not  bad  up  there 
just  now.  We'll  start  to-morrow  evening." 

It  was  a  pleasant  ride.  The  fields  were  robed  in 
green  and  the  trees  were  leaving.  Orchards  were  in 
blossom,  and  the  wild  flowers  were  beginning  to  peep 
out  here  and  there  along  the  roadway.  The  meadow 


98  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

lark  was  in  his  glory  and  seemed  to  be  wishing  me  a 
hearty  god-speed. 

The  old  butler  at  the  villa  had  been  apprised  of  the 
hour  of  our  arrival,  and  his  good  wife  had  prepared  a 
tempting  dinner.  We  retired  early  after  the  repast, 
and  arose  with  the  sun  the  following  morning.  Hav 
ing  kept  the  real  secret  of  my  trip  in  my  own  heart,  I 
was  cautious  not  to  do  or  say  anything  that  would  ex 
cite  the  banker's  suspicions.  So,  although  I  was 
very  anxious  to  visit  the  Thornes,  I  put  it  off  the  first 
day  and  went  gunning  with  Mr.  Brown.  We  had  some 
rare  sport,  bagging  a  goodly  number  of  fowls.  It 
was  almost  night  when  we  returned  from  our  day's 
tramp  through  the  marshes.  The  air  was  quite  raw, 
as  a  stiff  wind  had  been  blowing  all  day.  A  bright 
fire  had  been  kindled  in  the  sitting  room,  and  we 
were  soon  toasting  our  chilled  limbs. 

"By  the  way,  Mr.  Brown,"  said  I,  as  we  waited  the 
ringing  of  the  dinner  bell  and  discussed  the  day's 
hunt,  "I  must  run  over  to  Smithville  while  here  and 
see  the  Thornes." 

"Better  go  to-morrow,  then,"  said  the  banker.  "I 
will  be  obliged  to  look  after  some  affairs  about  the 
place  to-morrow.  So  do  your  visiting  w7hile  I  attend 
to  business,  and  then  we'll  hunt  the  next  day.  If  you 
wish  to  send  word  over,  I'll  call  the  boy?" 

"If  you  please,"  said  I. 

I  hurried  to  my  room  and  penned  a  brief  message, 
which  the  errand  boy  crumpled  into  his  pocket  as  he 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  99 

mounted  a  spirited  pony  and  hastened  on  his  journey. 

"He's  afraid  of  spooks,"  explained  the  old  butler 
as  he  drew  the  blinds  and  proceeded  to  light  the 
lamps.  "He'll  be  back  in  no  time,  for  he  wouldn't 
cross  Myers'  bridge  after  nine  o'clock  for  all  the 
money  in  the  county." 

"What's  the  matter  with  the  bridge?"  I  inquired. 

"Oh,  nothin',  I  guess,"  said  the  old  servant.  "But 
the  old  settlers  tell  as  how  a  man  named  Myers  used 
to  live  in  that.old  cabin  on  t'other  side  of  the  creek, 
and  collect  toll  in  the  early  days  before  the  crossing 
was  free.  One  dark  night  he  went  out  to  let  some 
travelers  over  and  never  showed  up  again.  Every 
body  said  it  was  foul  play.  It  was  supposed  that  he 
was  murdered,  and  his  body  dumped  into  the  stream, 
although  it  was  never  found.  Howsumever,  they  do 
say  that  his  ghost  may  be  seen  any  night  at  nine 
o'clock  walking  back  and  forth  on  the  bridge.  No- 
bod}7  in  these  parts  ever  tries  to  go  'cross  at  that 
time.  By  ten  he  is  gone,  and  there's  no  danger.  Jim 
will  be  back  afore  nine,  you  can  be  sure  'o  that." 

"Ah,  Jerry,  you  are  an  old  goose  to  believe  in  such 
tales,"  said  Mr.  Brown,  laughingly.  "What's  the  mat 
ter  with  Aunt  Martha  to-night?  I'm  as  hungry  as  a 
wolf." 

Just  that  minute  dinner  was  called  and  we  sat 
down  to  a  bountiful  spread,  in  which  some  of  our  own 
game,  bagged  during  the  day,  figured  very  promi 
nently.  The  ducks  were  done  to  a  turn,  and  we  ate 


100  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

like  wood-choppers.  After  dinner  the  banker  smoked 
and  I  played  several  games  of  checkers  with  Jim, 
who  had  returned  all  right,  and  who  said  he  had  de 
livered  the  message  to  the  very  lady  herself. 

"Golly,  but  don't  she  wear  a  funny  rig,  though!" 
said  the  boy,  as  he  drove  his  first  man  into  my  king 
row. 

"She  still  wears  bloomers,  does  she?"  said  I,  not 
knowing  just  how  to  answer  him,  and  feeling  in 
wardly  provoked  that  the  young  scoundrel  should 
have  beheld  my  lady  at  all  with  those  big,  watery 
eyes  of  his. 

"Don't  know  what  you  call  'em,  parson,"  said  he, 
"but  they're  the  all-firedst  odd  lookin'  things  I  ever 
see.  I  reckon  they're  mighty  nice  to  get  around  in 
though,"  and  he  jumped  three  of  my  men,  and  com 
pelled  me  to  crown  him  another  king. 

The  sun  had  been  up  an  hour  next  morning  when 
I  arose.  Mr.  Brown  had  eaten  early,  and  given  orders 
not  to  awake  me.  He  had  gone  out  to  the  fields  to 
give  his  men  some  directions.  So  I  ate  my  breakfast 
alone,  and  after  a  short  stroll  through  the  garden 
found  an  easy  chair  on  the  veranda,  where  I  seated 
myself  and  read  till  noon.  We  lunched  together  at 
one,  and  by  two  I  was  on  my  way  to  Smithville.  Jim 
took  me  over  in  the  phaeton  and  promised  to  call  for 
me  at  eleven  o'clock  sharp.  I  knew  it  was  useless  to 
ask  him  to  call  at  ten,  for  that  would  necessitate  his 
crossing  Myers'  bridge  at  a  bad  time.  Besides,  I 


MYERS'  BRIDGE.— Page  100. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  103 

imagined  that  it  would  be  very  pleasant  to  stay  at  the 
Thornes'  till  eleven. 

"Good  afternoon2  Doctor,"  said  Miss  Thorne. 

"Good  afternoon/'  said  I.  "Of  course  I  find  you 
well." 

"Certainly,  for  it  is  natural  to  be  well,  and  I  al 
ways  try  to  live  naturally,"  said  she,  gaily.  "But  you 
—why,  Doctor,  I'm  surprised  to  see  you  looking  so 
thin.  The  winter's  work  has  evidently  been  too 
heavy  upon  you.  Or,  perhaps,  it  is  lack  of  exercise 
and  a  proper  hygiene." 

"It  is  the  latter,  I  expect,"  said  I.  "For  I  have 
not  worked  any  harder  than  usual." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  have  neglected  a 
proper  care  of  the  body?"  said  she.  "And  yet  I  know 
you  have,  for  not  one  professional  man  in  a  thousand 
gives  a  reasonable  degree  of  attention  to  the  laws  of 
health.  But  come  in,  and  take  this  easy  chair.  I'll 
call  mamma  and  sister.  Papa,  of  course,  it  at  the 
store." 

The  same  easy  chair!  The  same  low  divan,  just 
across  the  room — I  was  sure  she  would  sit  on  it  again 
when  she  entered!  The  same  cordial  manner!  It 
began  to  seem  like  home. 

Mrs.  Thorne  and  Josephine  entered  and  greeted 
me  almost  as  warmly  as  though  I  had  been  a  friend 
of  long  standing.  It  was  all  very  pleasant.  After  a 
half  hour's  conversation  "Miss  Josephine  excused 
herself  in  order  to  keep  an  engagement  down  town, 


104  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

and  Mrs.  Thome  also  withdrew,  saying  that  she  had 
promised  to  call  upon  a  sick  lady  at  four.  I  was  very 
glad  of  the  younger  sister's  engagement,  and  for  once 
was  not  sorry  that  somebody  was  sick.  It  gave  me  a 
better  opportunity  to  enjoy  my  study. 

"What  a  perfect  day!''  said  Miss  Grace,  after  wo 
had  conversed  another  half  hour.  "Shall  we  not  take 
a  stroll?  or,  if  you  prefer,  a  spin  on  the  wheel?  Papa 
left  his  at  home  on  purpose,  thinking  you  might  wish 
to  take  a  ride  with  me." 

"I'm  very  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  not  yet  learned, 
Miss  Thome,"  said  I.  "Really,  I  haven't  had  leisure 
since  the  weather  has  been  nice.  Of  course,  you 
know  the  winter  is  very  severe  in  Chicago,  and  it 
was  no  time  to  learn  the  art  of  cycling." 

"But  you  should  have  learned  last  fall.  However, 
I  will  forgive  you  this  time,  and  hope  for  the  best. 
But  take  a  friend's  advice  and  get  yourself  a  wheel 
before  another  fortnight  passes.  It  wrill  add  strength 
to  those  muscles  and  blood  to  those  cheeks,"  said  she, 
scanning  me  with  the  quick  eye  of  a  physician. 

"I  will  take  your  prescription,"  said  I,  "and  that 
just  as  soon  as  I  return  to  the  city.  In  the  mean 
time,  I  should  be  glad  to  take  a  stroll  with  so  ex 
cellent  a  guide  as  yourself.  I  am  a  good  walker,  and 
if  I  cannot  ride  with  you  it  is  possible  that  I  can  tire 
3'ou  out  in  this  old-fashioned  way  of  exercising." 

"Don't  be  too  sure  of  that,"  said  she,  laughingly. 
"I  am  a  good  walker,  although  I  consider  it  an  infer- 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  105 

ior  mode  of  exorcise.  It  is  infinitely  better  than  car 
riage  riding,  but  not  so  good  as  horseback  riding, 
cycling  or  swimming.  But  let's  be  off." 

She  had  been  sitting  on  the  low  divan,  dressed  as 
always  in  bloomers.  The  winter  had  dealt  kindly 
with  her,  I  judged,  for  she  seemed  fully  ten  pounds 
heavier  than  in  the  fall.  Her  cheeks  were  pinker, 
her  shoulders  squarer,  her  shapely  limbs  plumper. 
What  a  model !  thought  I.  She  would  make  an  artist 
rave  with  madness!  And  yet  I'm  sure  all  the  money 
in  the  Bank  of  England  couldn't  induce  her  to  sit, 
for  she  is  innocence  personified,  beauty  inapproach 
able,  an  angel  in  the  flesh.  Tripping  lightly  upstairs, 
she  speedily  returned  arrayed  in  walking  hat  and 
shoes.  She  wore  no  gloves  nor  veil.  The  latter  she 
explained  was  injurious  to  the  eyes,  slovenly  in  ap 
pearance,  and  heathenish  generally.  Gloves  would 
do  for  ladies  of  delicate  health,  but  for  her  they  were 
irksome.  She  was  very  pronounced. 

It  was  a  perfect  day.  Not  cold,  nor  hot,  but  just 
right.  A  bright  sun,  exhilarating  atmosphere,  blue 
sky,  green  fields,  good  roads..  Is  it  only  the  effect 
of  spring,  or  is  my  acquaintance  with  this  lady  in 
bloomers  becoming  an  affair  of  the  heart?  thought  I, 
as  we  passed  through  the  stile  into  the  lane  which 
led  toward  the  woodland,  a  half  mile  distant. 

"This  is  a  good  day  for  poets,"  said  Miss  Thome. 
"Do  you  like  poetry?  I  do  on  certain  occasions. 
This  seems  to  me  an  appropriate  time  to  quote  Whit- 


106  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

tier,  the  poet  of  sunshine  and  love.     I  recall  one 
stanza  in  his  Mogg  Megone : 

"Tis  spring-time  on  the  eastern  hills! 
Like  torrents  gush  the  summer  rills; 
Through  winter's  moss  and  dry  dead  leaves 
The  bladed  grass  revives  and  lives, 
Pushes  the  mouldering  waste  away, 
And  glimpses  to  the  April  day." 

Some  poetry  is  far-fetched;  but  this  can  never  be 
said  of  our  own  Whittier,  do  you  think?" 

"Not  at  all,"  said  I.  "That  is  a  pretty  thing  you 
quoted,  and  it  was  beautifully  done  besides.  Allow 
me  to  give  you  four  lines  from  the  Italian,  which  I 
think  will  go  well  with  it: 

"Youth  of  the  year!   celestial  spring! 
Again  descend  thy  silent  showers; 
New  loves,  new  pleasures  dost  thou  bring, 
And  earth  again  looks  gay  with  flowers." 

I  cannot  blame  the  poetically  inclined  for  being 
especially  prolific  with  their  verses  at  this  season." 
^Nor  I,"  she  replied.  "Spring  has  always  been  my 
favorite  time  of  the  year.  The  opening  of  new  life  on 
every  hand  is  inspiring.  It  makes  one  long  to  be  and 
to  do.  Did  you  ever  read  that  exquisite  composition 
of  Thomas  J.  Ouseley's  entitled  'The  Seasons  of 
Life?'  I  cannot  quote  much  of  it,  but  think  I  re 
member  one  stanza: 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  107 

"The  soft  green  grass  is  growing, 

O'er  meadow  and  o'er  dale; 
The  silvery  founts  are  flowing 

Upoji  the  verdant  vale; 
The  pale  snowdrop  is  springing, 

To  greet  the  glowing  sun; 
The  primrose  sweet  is  flinging 

Perfume  the  fields  among; 
The  trees  are  in  the  blossom, 

The  birds  are  in  their  song, 
As  spring  upon  the  bosom 

Of  Nature's  borne  along." 

But  here  we  are  at  the  creek.  Perhaps  we  had  better 
dismiss  the  poets  and  do  our  best  to  appreciate  Na 
ture  as  we  see  her  here  face  to  face.  What  a  beauti 
ful  landscape!  At  least  I  think  so,  don't  you,  Doc 
tor?  A  thousand  times  I've  been  charmed  with  the 
view  presented  from  this  little  rustic  bridge." 

We  had  reached  a  small  stream  which  wound  its 
way  along  the  foot  of  the  hill  we  had  just  descended, 
now  darting  into  the  woodland  for  a  few  hundred 
feet,  and  then  shooting  across  the  meadow.  Cattle 
might  be  seen  grazing  lazily  on  either  bank,  and  a 
flock  of  sheep  were  industriously  nipping  the  tender 
grass  on  yonder  hillside.  Here  and  there  could  be 
seen  a  pretty  farm  house,  invariably  painted  white, 
with  green  window  blinds.  Most  of  the  barns,  which 
were  usually  large,  were  painted  red.  The  contrast 
of  colors  as  they  appeared  against  a  background  of 
living  green,  was  something  not  soon  to  be  forgot- 


108  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

ten,  and  I  honestly  agreed  with  rny  friend  that  the 
view  was  delightful.  We  stood  for  some  time  upon 
the  little  rustic  bridge,  watching  the  waters  play  in 
the  sunlight  beneath.  It  was  a  pebbly  place,  and  a 
school  of  little  sunfish  seemed  to  be  playing  hide- 
and-seek  among  the  larger  rocks. 

"Play  on  little  fellows  while  you  may,"  said  Miss 
Thorne.  "It  will  not  be  long  until  some  boy  from 
the  cruel  town  will  espy  you,  and  with  baited  hook 
allure  you  to  your  fate." 

She  spoke  earnestly,  but  with  a  far-away  look  in 
her  eyes  which  seemed  to  see  other  things  than  the 
little  fish.  I  made  no  reply,  and  for  a  time  we  were 
silent.  Finally  she  turned  those  great,  searching 
orbs  full  upon  me  and  said : 

"Doctor,  amidst  all  our  joys  and  sorrows;  amidst 
all  our  successes  and  failures;  amidst  all  the  sun 
shine  and  cloud  with  which  every  life  is  encom 
passed,  is  there  any  such  thing  as  contentment?" 

"You  have  asked  me  a  hard  question,"  said  I.  "You 
may  remember  that  the  Good  Book  says  'whatsoever 
state  we  are  in,  therewith  to  be  content;'  but  I  con 
fess  that  I  have  always  found  it  a  difficult  command 
ment  to  obey.  Phillips  Brooks  once  said  that  'the 
ideal  life,  the  life  full  of  completions,  haunts  us  all. 
We  feel  the  thing  we  ought  to  be  beating  beneath 
the  thing  we  are.'  This  is  true  in  my  own  case.  How 
have  you  found  it?" 

"Precisely  the  same,"  said  she.    "I  am  a  little  use- 


HERE    WE    SAT    DOWN    UNDER    A    GREAT    TREE.— 
Page  112. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  Ill 

ful,  I  guess,  but  long  to  be  more  so.  I  am  happy,  but 
long  for  still  greater  happiness.  There  is  so  much 
to  do  in  this  wide  and  wicked  world,  and  time  and  the 
tides  wait  for  no  man.  There  are  numerous  reforms 
that  must  be  brought  about  ere  this  decade  close,  or 
our  country  will  cross  the  threshold  of  the  twentieth 
century  sadly  manacled." 

We  walked  on,  following  a  well-beaten  path  which 
pushed  its  way  circuitously  into  the  depths  of  the 
forest.  The  farther  we  went,  the  taller  grew  the 
trees.  At  last  we  came  to  a  rugged  hill  which  rose 
quite  abruptly  from  the  leArel  to  a  height  of  a  hun 
dred  feet  or  more.  Miss  Thome  insisted  on  climbing 
it,  which  we  did,  much  to  my  grief,  as  I  had  two  or 
three  falls  in  the  ascent,  tore  my  trousers  and 
scratched  my  face.  Miss  Thome  laughed  heartily  at 
my  expense.  She  not  only  made  the  trip  unscathed, 
but  kindly  offered  me  her  hand.  Of  course,  I  politely 
refused  any  assistance,  and  clambered  up  the  best 
way  I  could.  When  we  reached  the  summit  I  was 
almost  out  of  breath,  while  she  seemed  not  at  all 
fatigued.  Her  cheeks  were  just  a  little  rosier,  that 
was  all.  And  I  said  to  myself,  Oh,  you  magnificent 
new  woman! 

Descending,  she  led  the  way  to  a  spring  which 
gurgled  merrily  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  feeding  a  lit 
tle  rivulet  which  wound  its  way  bashfully  among 
the  trees,  heading  toward  the  larger  stream  which  we 
had  crossed  before  entering  the  woods.  Here  we  sat 


112  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

down  under  a  great  tree,  which  had  been  felled  by 
the  relentless  axe  of  some  woodman  in  bygone  years. 
Its  branches  had  fallen  off  and  decayed,  but  the 
mighty  trunk  remained  almost  intact,  affording  a 
pleasant  rustic  seat.  For  a  long  time  we  talked,  dis 
cussing  thoroughly  all  the  matters  of  interest  be 
tween  us.  In  turn  we  gave  attention  to  mission  work 
among  the  poor,  the  liquor  traffic,  gambling,  the  pub 
lication  of  scurrilous  literature  and  other  social  re 
form  questions.  And  then  we  discussed  the  money 
question,  the  tariff,  monopolies  and  other  matters  of 
interest  to  our  government.  In  most  particulars  we 
agreed,  but  in  some  we  did  not.  It  must  have  been  a 
queer  sight  to  the  robins  that  were  mating  above  our 
heads.  We  gesticulated  as  earnestly  and  spoke  as 
excitedly  at  times,  as  though  the  salvation  of  the  re 
public  depended  upon  our  efforts  right  then  and 
there. 

"Miss  Thorne,  pardon  my  abruptness,-'  said  I  at 
length ;  "but  I  wish  to  say  frankly  that  I  am  charmed 
with  you.  I  have  read  quite  extensively,  conversed 
with  many  able  men,  and  traveled  from  one  ocean  to 
the  other,  but  I  have  never  found  one  so  uniformly 
well-posted  on  all  subjects,  nor  so  sensible  in  con 
clusions  as  yourself.  Your  versatility  amazes  me, 
and  I  wish  to  know  the  secret  of  your  achievement." 

"A  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body,  Doctor,  and  then 
hard  work,"  said  she.  "It  is  no  secret.  And  yet,  I  am 
sure  you  over-estimate  me.  I  am  only  a  simple  girl, 
seeking  light,  and  trying  to  be  useful" 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  11$ 

Then,  thought  I,  heaven  give  us  more  simple  girls! 
It  was  dawning  upon  me  just  then  that  this  lady  in 
bloomers  was  more  to  me  than  any  other  woman  had 
ever  been.  I  did  not  realize  it,  but  felt  myself  irre 
sistibly  led  into  something  far  more  than  friendship 
for  her.  As  her  pretty,  warm  hand  lay  idly  on  the 
folds  of  that  much-despised  garment,  the  defense  of 
which  has  cost  many  good  men  and  pure  women  the 
ridicule  of  fashion's  elect,  I  felt  an  almost  uncon 
querable  desire  to  take  it  in  my  own.  But  I  hesi 
tated,  and  changing  the  subject  adroitly,  she  said: 

"Where  do  you  purpose  spending  your  vacation 
this  year,  Doctor?" 

"It  is  at  present  my  intention  to  spend  a  week  at 
Niagara,  another  at  Toronto,  and  then  a  month 
among  the  Thousand  Islands  and  along  the  St.  Law 
rence  as  far  down  as  Quebec,  perhaps.  But  it  is  some 
time  yet  before  I  secure  leave  of  absence,  and  I  might 
change  my  plans." 

"I  suppose  your  work  is  very  heavy.  I  believe  you 
wrote  me  that  your  congregation  numbered  1,000 
members.  To  care  for  so  large  a  church  must  cer 
tainly  consume  a  vast  amount  of  nerve  force." 

"I  need  a  helper,  Miss  Thorne,"  said  I. 

And  I  was  about  to  say  that  I  knew  of  no  one  in 
the  skies  above  or  on  earth  beneath  that  would  fill  all 
requirements  as  well  as  she.  But  I  hesitated.  Just 
that  moment  a  sturdy  old  farmer  appeared  on  the 
scene  and  my  opportunity  was  gone.  He  was  hunt- 


114  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

ing  a  lost  cow,  ho  explained,  and,  describing  her, 
asked  if  we  had  seen  anything  of  such  an  animal. 
We  had  not,  and  so  he  went  on,  merrily  whistling 
"Auld  Lang  Syne"  or  some  such  tune,  I've  forgotten 
just  what. 

"It  is  high  time  we  were  returning,"  said  Miss 
Thorne,  consulting  her  little  gold  watch  that  nestled 
beneath  her  belt.  "Mamma  will  have  dinner  just  at 
seven,  and  it  is  now  six." 

We  walked  leisurely  homeward,  still  talking  re 
forms.  But  secretly  I  longed  to  change  the  subject 
and  discuss  something  more  soothing  to  the  affec 
tions.  My  heart  yearned  to  whisper  its  love  to  those 
pretty  pink  ears.  Wait  till  you  come  to  the  little 
rustic  bridge  again,  said  a  voice  within.  Then  for  a 
few  minutes  my  pulse  beat  more  normally;  but  when 
we  came  in  sight  of  the  spot  set  for  the  conquest,  my 
foolish  heart  fairly  pounded,  and  my  face  flushed 
with  excitement.  I  felt  that  the  supreme  moment  of 
my  life  had  arrived.  To  win  this  fair  girl's  affec 
tions  meant  home,  peace,  sunshine,  bliss! 

As  we  stepped  upon  the  bridge  it  seemed  to  sink 
beneath  our  feet,  for  at  the  farther  end  there  stood 
three  young  street  gamins  angling  for  the  little  sun- 
fish  we  had  seen  when  passing  over.  Once  again  my 
plans  were  foiled.  My  heart  ached. 

"Good  evening,  boys,"  said  my  friend  pleasantly. 

"Good  evening,  Miss  Thorne,"  said  the  urchins  in 
concert. 

"How  do  they  bite?"  said  she. 


SITTING    UPON    THE    LOW    DIVAN    SHE    PLAYED. 
Page  118. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  117 

"Oh,  tip  top!"  said  the  eldest.  "I've  caught  six  al 
ready,  and  Billy  and  Jack  have  pulled  in  nine  be 
tween  'em." 

And,  snipping  the  wings  and  legs  from  another 
grasshopper,  he  quickly  re-baited  his  hook,  and 
swishtag  the  line  a  time  or  two  about  his  head,  the 
young  fisherman  let  it  fall  far  out  in  the  stream,  re 
marking  with  a  wink  that  he  was  "figurin'  on  a  black 
bass  for  a  change." 

"Three  of  my  Sunday-school  boys,"  explained  Miss 
Thome  as  we  walked  on.  "I  have  a  very  interesting 
class  of  twenty  just  such  fellows.  They  are  all  poor 
and  uncultured,  but  some  of  them  are  very  bright 
and  promising.  Rain  or  shine,  hot  or  cold,  they  sel 
dom  miss  a  service.  I've  taught  the  class  three 
years  now,  and  visited  often  in  the  homes  of  the  boys, 
most  of  whom  I  picked  up  on  the  street  and  induced 
to  attend  by  promises  of  sweetmeats,  picnics,  or 
money.  They  have  been  very  faithful  to  me,  and 
seem  to  think  everything  of  their  teacher,  and  I'm 
sure  I  do  of  them.  I'll  tell  you  more  about  it  some 
time,  for  I  know  you  would  be  :nterested  in  the  story. 
But  here  we  are  at  the  stile  again." 

It  lacked  fifteen  minutes  of  the  dinner  hour.  No 
ticing  a  guitar  leaning  against  the  piano,  I  asked  who 
played  it. 

"Sister  and  I  both,  a  little,"  was  the  reply. 

"Good!  Then  will  you  not  favor  me  with  a  selec 
tion  or  two?" 


118  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

Sitting  upon  the  low  divan,  she  played,  at  first  a 
few  of  the  old  tunes  familiar  to  all  performers  on  this 
delightful  instrument,  and  then  something  more 
modern.  She  had  worn  a  waist  of  some  white,  soft 
material  during  the  afternoon,  with  short  open 
sleeves  and  low  neck.  As  she  swept  the  strings  of 
the  instrument  with  the  abandon  of  a  master,  her 
soul  in  perfect  accord  with  the  sweet  notes  which 
she  spoke  into  life  and  power,  I  thought  I  had  never 
seen  such  a  picture.  And  when  she  sang,  at  first  a 
lullaby,  and  then  some  dreamy  Italian  love  piece,  I 
could  hardly  resist  the  impulse  to  go  and  sit  down 
by  her  side,  and,  folding  her  to  my  bosom,  declare 
all  that  I  felt.  But  I  hesitated.  And  it  was  well  that 
I  did,  for  within  two  minutes  her  good  father  ap 
peared,  and  heartily  greeting  me,  led  the  way  to  the 
dining  room. 

"By  the  wray,  daughter,"  said  he  to  Miss  Grace,  as 
we  sat  at  the  table,  "I  have  a  letter  for  you." 

"Oh,  it's  from  Mrs.  Brown,"  said  she,  hastily  scan 
ning  the  envelope.  "Pardon  me  if  I  open  it,  as  it  may 
contain  something  of  interest  to  us  all." 

It  was  a  short  letter  and  quickly  read.  Mrs.  Brown 
had  arranged  for  a  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Social 
Science  Club,  of  which  she  was  president,  at  her  resi 
dence  the  following  week,  Thursday  afternoon.  She 
desired  that  Miss  Grace  should  be  present  and  read  a 
paper.  Could  she  not  come  and  spend  a  week  or 
two? 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  119 

My  heart  leaped  with  joy.  She  would  accept  the 
invitation,  and  I  would  see  her  often  during  the  visit, 
for  at  no  home  in  the  city  was  I  more  welcome.  My 
acquaintance  with  this  winsome  lass  of  the  north- 
land  had  become  an  affair  of  the  heart  with  me,  and 
there  was  no  denying  it. 

"Shall  I  go,  papa?  What  do  you  say,  mamma? 
Will  you  take  my  Sunday-school  class,  sister?" 

One  question  followed  another,  and  all  were  satis 
factorily  adjusted.  Yes,  she  would  go,  and  as  I  would 
arrive  home  Saturday,  would  I  please  bear  a  message 
to  Mrs.  Brown  and  assure  her  of  the  pleasure  with 
which  her  invitation  was  accepted. 

The  evening  passed  all  too  quickly.  At  eleven  Jim 
arrived  with  the  carriage,  and  I  took  my  leave.  Prom 
ising  Miss  Grace  that  I  would  meet  her  upon  her  ar 
rival  in  the  city,  I  gently  pressed  her  hand,  feeling 
that  life  was  very  sweet,  but  that  it  would  never  be 
quite  perfect  till  this  girl  in  bloomers,  who  daily 
was  becoming  more  and  more  to  me — a  study  of  per 
petual  delight — should  hear  my  declaration  of  love, 
and  permit  the  caresses  I  longed  to  give. 


A   MEMORABLE   GATHERING. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  MEMORABLE  GATHERING. 

"There  has  fallen  a  splendid  tear 

From  the  passion  flower  at  the  gate. 
She  is  coming,  my  dove,  my  dear; 

She  is  coming,  my  life,  my  fate; 
The  red  rose  cries,  'She  is  near,  she  is  near'; 

And  the  white  rose  weeps,  'She  is  late'; 
The  larkspur  listens,  'I  hear,  I  hear'; 

4.nd  the  lily  whispers,  'I  wait.'  " 

—TENNYSON. 

My  good  people  said  that  I  preached  with  unusual 
power  the  following  Sunday.  Whether  it  was  the 
run  to  the  country,  or  a  sudden  inspiration,  they 
could  not  say,  but  both  my  morning  and  evening  ser 
mons  were  fine,  they  declared.  I  was  encouraged  by 
the  kind  compliments,  but  surmised  that  it  was  not 
the  country,  nor  any  unusual  inspiration  in  the  ortho 
dox  sense  that  enabled  me  to  do  better  pulpit  work 
than  usual,  if  I  had  done  so,  but  the  quickening 
power  of  a  new-born  love.  And  I  was  happy. 

Although  but  three  days  till  Miss  Thome  was  due, 
it  seemed  an  age  as  I  sat  by  my  study  window  Mon 
day  morning.  I  could  not  work.  My  books  looked 
uninviting  and  the  room  seemed  elose.  I  accord- 


m  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

ifitfly  took  my  hat  and  cane  and  sauntered  forth.  I 
visited  the  park  awhile,  and  then  lunched  down 
town.  During  the  afternoon  I  paid  many  visits 
among  the  poor.  I  had  never  enjoyed  the  task  so 
much  as  on  this  occasion.  Was  it  the  thought  of 
three  urchins  catching  sunfish  and  their  sweet-faced 
teacher  in  a  far  off  northern  town  that  spurred  me 
on?  Perhaps. 

At  last  the  days  dragged  by,  and  I  found  myself 
in  waiting  at  the  station.  The  train  was  an  hour 
late,  and  I  writhed.  Where  was  the  patience  of  Job, 
which  I  had  so  often  recommended  in  my  sermons? 
Ah,  well,  I  mused;  Job  never  waited  for  a  late  rail: 
way  train,  nor  loved  a  girl  in  bloomers.  Besides,  it 
is  harder  to  practice  a  virtue  than  it  is  to  preach  it. 

When  the  long  train  pulled  in,  I  had  no  difficulty 
in  finding  my  friend  among  the  hundreds  of  passen 
gers,  for  she  was  the  only  lady  in  bloomers.  Clad  in  a 
light  grey  suit,  with  leggings  and  hat  to  match,  she 
was  the  observed  of  all  observers  as  she  accepted 
my  arm  and  walked  with  me  down  the  long  plat 
form  and  ascended  the  stairway  to  the  cab.  She 
impressed  me  as  a  bird  on  wing,  a  ship  under  full 
sail  on  a  friendly  sea — poetry  in  motion !  But  others 
evidently  were  not  impressed  so  favorably,  for  in 
passing  the  ladies'  waiting  room  I  heard  an  old  witch 
say: 

"Look  there,  Mirandy!  Did  you  ever  see  the  likes 
in  your  life?  If  that  gal  was  my  darter,  I'd  tan  her 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  125 

hide  and  make  her  live  on  bread  and  water  for  a 
week.  Such  clothes!" 

You  wTould  have  your  bony  old  hands  full,  old 
woman,  thought  I,  as  I  glanced  at  the  splendid 
creature  beside  me,  and  felt  the  great,  warm  muscu 
lar  arm  as  the  crowd  pressed  us  together.  Miss 
Thorne  either  did  not  hear  the  remark  of  the  old 
way-back,  or  else  cared  nothing  for  it,  as  she  kept  up 
a  merry  chat,  interrupted  here  and  there  with  a  rip 
ple  of  laughter.  She  was  evidently  used  to  being 
talked  about,  and  like  the  brave,  true  woman  that 
she  was,  paid  no  more  attention  to  it  than  to  the 
blowing  of  the  wind. 

"Are  you  tired?"  I  asked. 

"Oh,  no!"  she  said.  "I  never  get  tired.  Why 
should  one?  There  is  a  sensible  limit  line  to  all  en 
durance,  and  a  wise  person  will  never  cross  that  line. 
Many  do,  I  know;  and  in  this  way  the  maledictions 
of  good  people  are  induced  against  bicycling,  bath 
ing,  football  and  other  exercises.  But  how  about  that 
wheel,  Doctor?  Have  you  invested  yet?" 

"I  should  think  you  could  surmise  from  the  un 
usual  stiffness  of  my  gait,"  said  I.  "And  if  you  only 
knew  of  the  bruises!  Yes,  I  purchased  a  high-grade 
safety  day  before  yesterday,  and  have  taken  two  les 
sons.  I  rode  three  blocks  without  falling  this  morn 
ing,  and  think  it  will  not  be  long  until  I  can  get 
around  very  nicely." 


126  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

"Bravo!"  said  she.  "The  next  time  you  visit  the 
villa  we  will  be  able  to  take  a  spin." 

"I  hope  so." 

We  spent  the  evening  with  the  Browns.  The 
banker  and  myself  facetiously  begged  the  privilege  of 
being  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  club  the  follow 
ing  day,  but  were  denied. 

"Strictly  for  ladies,"  said  Mrs.  Brown. 

"But  we  want  to  hear  Miss  Thome's  paper,"  said  I. 

"I  shall  take  pleasure  in  rereading  it  to  you  and 
Mr.  Brown  some  evening  before  my  return  if  de 
sired,"  said  the  obliging  young  lady. 

"It  is  most  urgently  desired,"  said  the  banker. 

It  was  a  brilliant  gathering  that  graced  the  spa 
cious  and  elegantly  furnished  parlors  of  the  Brown 
mansion  the  following  afternoon.  Fully  a  hundred 
of  Chicago's  fairest  and  brainiest  women,  married 
and  single,  came  from  the  North,  South,  and  West 
sides,  arrayed  in  costliest  silks  and  satins  and  be 
decked  with  jewels.  The  street  was  lined  with  ele 
gant  carriages,  and  the  whole  affair  appeared  to  be 
one  of  extraordinary  splendor.  All  this  I  could 
guess  as  I  looked  out  of  my  study  window,  which 
was  in  full  view  of  the  Browns,  only  a  block  away, 
and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  boulevard.  Papers 
were  read  on  various  phases  of  dress  reform,  the 
subject  that  had  been  selected  for  the  present  meet 
ing  of  the  club.  All  were  commonplace,  however, 
simply  following  the  "old  lines  of  a  discussion  that 


FULLY    A    HUNDRED   OF   CHICAGO'S    FAIREST   AND 
BRAINIEST  OF  WOMEN— Page  126. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  129 

*•»•_ 

has  been  worn  threadbare  because  of  the  impracti 
cabilities  advocated,  until  Miss  Thome's  name  was 
announced.  And  as  one  of  the  great  dailies  had  sent  a 
special  lady  reporter  to  write-up  the  meeting,  I  can 
not  do  better  perhaps  than  to  quote  that  portion  of 
the  article  which  has  to  deal  with  my  study.  It  ap 
peared  the  following  morning,  copiously  illustrated 
from  instantaneous  photographs  taken  on  the  spot, 
and  caused  a  sensation: 

"For  many  years  American  women  have  talked 
dress  reform,  but  few  have  practiced  anything  sen 
sible  on  the  subject.  Consequently  very  little  has 
been  accomplished.  But  there  is  one  young  woman 
in  our  great  land  whose  brave,  true  words  and  beau 
tiful  example  have  set  the  gossips  talking  with  the 
probability  of  good  results.  This  young  woman  was 
present,  and  was  happily  introduced  by  Madam  Presi 
dent  as  'Miss  Grace  Thorne,  of  Smithville,  Wis.,  a 
personal  friend,  whom  I  am  sure  deserves  to  be 
ranked  as  one  of  the  fairest  living  exponents  of  the 
new  womanhood.' 

"And  she  does.  Modest,  brainy,  well-sexed,  beauti 
ful, — certainly  she  made  a  fine  appearance  as  she 
stepped  before  that  august  gathering  of  Chicago's 
best  women.  There  was  a  general  flutter  for  a  few 
moments  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  speaker 
was  clad  in  bloomers.  They  were  made  of  plush- 
purple,  more  closely  cut  than  last  year's  style,  snugly 
gathered  below  the  knee,  and  almost  hidden  from 


130  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

view  by  a  very  short  skirt  of  the  same  material.  The 
hose  were  of  black  silk,  and  displayed  a  limb  as 
plump  and  perfect  as  sculptor  ever  carved.  The 
waist  was  made  of  silk,  with  full  sleeves,  low  neck, 
and  bright  trimmings.  She  wore  no  corset,  yet  pre 
sented  a  dream  of  loveliness  in  form  seldom  if  ever 
surpassed.  In  introducing  she  quoted  the  words  of 
Milton : 

'Accuse  not  Nature:  she  hath  done  her  part. 
Do  thou  but  thine.' 

In  a  rich,  w7ell-modulated  voice,  she  read,  and  her  en 
tire  audience  seemed  hypnotized,  so  eagerly  did  they 
drink  every  word,  and  so  enthusiastically  did  they 
applaud. 

"'All  women  desire  to  be  beautiful,'  she  said. 
Tew  are.  All  desire  to  be  healthy.  Few  are.  Why? 
Because  the  laws  of  nature  are  set  aside,  and  sense 
less  rules  substituted.  The  ill-health  of  females  is 
something  appalling  to-day.  What  are  the  causes? 
Among  them  have  been  enumerated — 

Improper  ventilation. 

Unhygienic  food. 

Dearth  of  fresh  air  and  sunshine. 

Lack  of  exercise. 

Over- work,  over-study,  and  mental  strain. 

An  abnormal  nervous  development. 

Improprieties  of  dress. 

A  volume  might  be  written  under  each  of  these 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  l3l 

heads;  but  I  must  confine  myself  to  the  last  on  this 
occasion,  and,  by  request  of  your  worthy  president, 
particularly  to  the  corset.  An  irrational  dress  is  the 
undoubted  cause  of  much  of  the  organic  disease 
among  our  sex.  A  distinguished  specialist  says  that 
'90  per  cent  of  the  so-called  female  diseases  have  their 
origin  in  corsets  and  heavy  skirts.  They  not  only  de 
press  the  pelvic  organs  by  their  pressure  and  weight, 
but  weaken  all  their  normal  effects.'  It  has  been 
falsely  said  that  'every  woman  by  mere  structure  is 
a  life-long  invalid.'  That  is  a  travesty  on  woman 
hood  and  truth.  It  is  as  natural  under  normal  con 
ditions  for  a  woman  to  be  well  and  strong  as  for  man. 
Woman's  'weaknesses'  should  be  denominated 
woman's  follies. 

"'Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  in  classifying  the  errors  of 
woman's  dress,  speaks  as  follows: 

"  'First.  The  corset,  which  reduces  the  waist  from 
three  to  fifteen  inches  and  pushes  the  organs  within 
downward. 

"  'Second.  Unequal  distribution.  While  her  chest 
and  hips  are  often  overloaded,  her  arms  and  legs  are 
so  thinly  clad  that  their  imperfect  circulation  com 
pels  the  congestion  of  the  trunk  and  head. 

"  'Third.  Long,  heavy  skirts,  which  drag  upon  the 
body,  and  impede  the  movement  of  the  legs. 

"'Fourth.  Tight  shoes,  which  arrest  circulation, 
and  make  walking  difficult.  High  heels,  which  in 
crease  the  difficulties  in  walking,  and  so  change  the 


132  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

center  of  gravity  of  the  body  as  to  produce  disloca 
tions  in  the  pelvic  viscera.' 

"  'This  eminent  authority  is  wise  when  he  puts  the 
corset  at  the  head  of  woman  killers,  and  makes  it  the 
twin-sister  of  the  long  skirt.  The  statistics  of  Lon 
don  corset  dealers  show7  that  the  average  size  of  the 
female  waist  has  decreased  by  twro  inches  during  the 
last  quarter  century.  Dr.  Ellis  says :  "The  practice 
of  tight  lacing  has  done  more  within  the  last  century 
toward  the  physical  deterioration  of  civilized  man 
than  has  war,  pestilence,  and  famine  combined." 
Another  physician  writes:  "Woman,  by  her  in 
jurious  style  of  dress,  is  doing  as  much  to  destroy  the 
race  as  is  man  by  alcoholism."  Dr.  Kitchen  declares 
that  "this  appliance  kills  slowly,  and,  to  the  un 
learned,  imperceptibly;  nevertheless  the  corset  on 
a  child  is  slow7  murder  of  the  child.  Every  w7ornan 
who  has  grown  up  in  a  corset,  no  matter  how  loosely 
wrorn,  is  deformed."  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard  says: 
"But  woman's  everlasting  befrilled,  bedizened,  and 
bedraggled  style  of  dress  is  to-day  doing  more  harm 
to  children  unborn,  born  and  dying,  than  all  other 
causes  that  compel  public  attention.  With  ligatured 
lungs  and  liver  as  our  past  inheritance  and  present 
slavery,  the  wonder  is  that  such  small  heads  can 
carry  all  we  know!  Niggardly  waists  and  niggardly 
brains  go  together.  The  emancipation  of  the  one  will 
always  keep  pace  with  the  other;  a  ligature  around 
the  vital  organs  at  the  smallest  diameter  of  the 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  133 

womanly  figure  means  an  impoverished  blood  supply 
in  the  brain,  and  may  explain  why  women  scream 
when  they  see  a  mouse,  and  why  they  are  so  terribly 
afraid  of  a  term  which  should  be  their  glory,  as  it  is 
that  of  their  brothers,  viz.,  strong-minded." 

"'The  small  boy  in  a  school  composition  spoke 
truthfully,  if  not  learnedly,  wrhen  he  said  :  "Girls 
kill  the  breath  with  corsets  that  squeeze  the  diagram. 
Girls  can't  run  or  holler  like  boys  because  their  dia 
gram  is  squeezed  too  much.  If  I  was  a  girl  I'd  rather 
be  a  boy,  so  I  could  run  and  holler  and  have  a  good 
diagram."  It  has  been  argued  that  it  is  not  natural 
for  woman  to  breathe  abdominally  like  man,  and 
therefore  the  corset  is  no  impediment  to  her  develop 
ment  in  this  respect.  But  Dr.  Kellogg  has  shown 
conclusively  the  fallacy  of  this  theory  by  a  series  of 
careful  investigations.  He  declares  that  "women 
who  have  never  worn  tight  clothing  breathe  ab 
dominally,  as  do  men,  and  that  civilized  women  who 
hrive  formerly  worn  corsets,  after  having  modified 
their  dress  in  accordance  with  the  demands  of  health, 
subsequently  acquire  the  abdominal  type  of  respira 
tion." 

"  'Personally,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  speak  of  my 
self,  I  do  not  know  the  effects  of  corset-wearing,  as  I 
have  never  had  one  on.  For  years,  however,  I  have 
worn  a  light,  snug-fitting  waist,  devoid  of  whalebone, 
metal,  or  other  hard  material.  It  is  similar  in  ap 
pearance  and  make-up  to  the  average  corset-waist. 


134  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

yet  more  substantially  and  artistically  made.  My 
dressmaker  fits  it  to  the  form,  but  is  always  cau 
tioned  not  to  make  it  tight  at  any  point.  The  result 
is  that  I  breathe  abdommalljr,  am  free  from  any  of  the 
usual  diseases  attendant  upon  tight  lacing,  and  am 
as  strong  as  any  average  man  of  the  same  weight. 
When  we  allow  the  form  to  develop  itself  naturally, 
there  will  be  no  need  of  padding,  which  has  become 
one  of  the  worst  fads  of  recent  years  in  woman's 
make-up.  It  is  the  thwarting  of  the  plans  of  nature 
by  a  slavish  devotion  to  the  ruinous  rules  of  Uame 
Fashion  that  weakens  woman  physically  and  men 
tally  in  these  days,  and  makes  her  the  constant  vic 
tim  of  designing  quacks.  Every  woman  ought  to  be 
strong.  It  is  her  right,  and  whatever  fashion  keeps 
her  down  should  be  stamped  out  in  righteous  indigna 
tion.  One  of  woman's  great  missions  is  to  be  grace 
ful,  in  all  that  this  much-abused  word  implies. 
Goethe  well  says  that  "the  highest  grace  is  the  out 
come  of  consummate  strength."  It  is  wrong  to 
blame  the  men  for  any  irrational  style  of  dress  among 
women.  The  average  well-sexed  man  detests  a  wasp- 
like  waist.  And  was  there  ever  one  who  did  not  ab 
hor  long  trains,  that  modern  pest  of  weddings  and 
receptions?  Oh,  sisters,  let  us  have  done  with  all 
this  nonsense.  Discard  corsets,  long  skirts,  tight 
garters,  cramping  shoes,  and  every  other  thing  that 
in  any  way  impedes  the  fullest  and  freest  develop 
ment  of  the  body,  Every  corset  and  long  skirt  ought 


WHEN  WE  ALLOW  THE  FORM  TO  DEVELOP  ITSELF 
NATURALLY,  THERE  WILL  BE  NO  NEED  OF  PAD 
DING.— Page  134. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  137 

to  be  relegated  to  the  rag  picker  or  the  curiosity  shop 
before  the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century.  It  would 
mean  more  than  pen  can  tell  for  our  personal  pleas 
ure  in  living,  for  our  homes,  for  our  purses,  for  our 
posterity,  and  for  all  that  is  good,  and  beautiful  and 
true.' 

"At  the  conclusion  of  the  paper  all  parliamentary 
rules  were  ignored  for  a  time,  and  with  one  accord 
the  ladies  present  moved  forward  to  congratulate 
this  splendid  exponent  of  the  better  womanhood  now 
dawning  over  a  long-suffering  world.  The  enthusi 
asm  amounted  to  an  ovation,  and  Miss  Thome  may 
pride  herself  in  stirring  up  the  elite  ladies  of  Chicago 
as  they  have  never  been  stirred  before.  We  shall  no 
doubt  hear  of  anti-corset  clubs  now  in  various  parts 
of  the  city,  and  it  will  not  be  surprising  to  see  many 
of  our  leading  ladies  arrayed  in  bloomers  at  no  dis 
tant  day." 

Having  an  engagement  in  a  distant  part  of  the  city 
that  evening,  I  did  not  get  to  call  at  the  Brown  man 
sion  until  the  next  afternoon.  Then  Miss  Thorne 
was  out,  and,  worst  of  all  for  me,  had  accepted  an  in 
vitation  to  spend  the  evening  with  one  of  the  first 
families  of  the  South  side.  Mrs.  Brown  recounted  to 
me  all  the  details  of  our  mutual  friend's  triumph,  and 
kindly  invited  me  to  dine  with  them  the  following 
day.  It  seemed  to  me  the  next  twenty-four  hours 
never  would  drag  by.  I  walked  the  floor,  looked  out 
of  my  window,  wrote  a  few  letters,  tried  to  read,  and 


138  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

did  a  variety  of  things,  but  found  it  impossible  to 
sleep  until  long  after  midnight.  Then  I  awoke  early, 
breakfasted,  and,  donning  a  sweater,  gave  myself  up 
to  that  new  bicycle  which  I  earnestly  desired  to  mas 
ter  for  her  sake,  if  for  nothing  else. 

Promptly  at  six  o'clock  I  reached  the  Brown  resi 
dence.  I  went  early,  hoping  to  have  a  quiet  hour 
with  Miss  Thome  before  dinner.  I  was  not  disap 
pointed.  After  the  usual  preliminaries,  our  good 
hostess  left  us  alone,  and  we  were  permitted  to  con 
verse  uninterrupted  until  the  arrival  of  the  banker, 
fifty  minutes  later. 

"Permit  me  now  to  congratulate  you,  Miss  Thorne," 
I  said,  extending  my  hand,  "over  your  splendid  suc 
cess  Thursday.  I  read  the  reports  of  the  meeting  in 
the  city  papers  with  great  interest,  and  especially 
the  synopsis  of  your  paper." 

"Thank  you,"  said  she,  modestly  accepting  mv 
hand. 

What  a  hand!  Just  for  a  moment  I  held  it,  and 
then  reluctantlj7  gave  it  up.  So  perfectly  shaped! 
So  pink  with  rich  blood!  So  firm!  So  warm! 

"Like  the  majority  of  people,  I  have  taken  but  lit 
tle  interest  in  the  subjects  discussed  at  your  meet 
ing  until  I  met  you  at  the  Villa,"  said  I.  "Since  then 
I  have  read  everything  I  could  find  bearing  on  the 
matter,  and  am  more  and  more  persuaded  that  you 
are  fighting  on  the  right  side  in  a  good  cause.  At 
first  your  ideas  shocked  me.  Bloomers  I  thought 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  139 

were  horrible.  Riding  a-straddle  was  almost  unmen 
tionable.  The  taking  of  vigorous  exercise,  the  same 
as  the  sterner  sex,  had  never  entered  my  mind  as 
being  practicable  or  desirable  for  women.  And  as 
to  corsets,  I  had  heard  my  mother  and  sisters  defend 
them  on  one  or  two  occasions,  and  supposed  of  course 
that  they  were  quite  proper.  But  I  ana  ready  to  con 
fess  that  I  am  now  a  complete  convert  to  your  new 
womanhood  ideas,  and  only  wonder  why  everybody 
else  is  not.'" 

"It  is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  change  long  estab 
lished  customs,"  said  she.  "No  matter  how  sense 
less  and  even  sinful  a  thing  may  be,  if  it  has  been 
long  accepted  by  the  million,  people  cling  to  it  with 
religious  tenacity.  And  then,  again,  capital  often 
opposes  progress.  As  in  the  days  of  Paul  the  idol- 
mongers  of  Ephesus  opposed  his  preaching  because 
it  hurt  their  business,  so  now  the  manufacturers 
scoff  at  those  who  advocate  dress  reform,  and,  as 
usual,  the  people  are  duped.  But  when  once  the  eyes 
of  Americans  are  opened  to  the  prevalence  of  any 
great  evil,  and  the  conscience  fully  quickened,  it  is 
but  a  question  of  time  when  reformation  follows, 
quick,  sure  and  steadfast.  I  see  just  before  us  a  bet 
ter  day  for  the  women  of  our  country.  Certainly 
they  will  not  much  longer  content  themselves  with 
being  the  slaves  of  the  numerous  customs  which  are 
now  dragging  thousands  to  untimely  graves." 

But  I  did  not  care  to  continue  this  discussion  fur- 


140  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

thor  just  then.  I  had  something  else  in  mind;  but 
just  how  to  present  it  I  did  not  know.  I  thought  of 
my  lonely  evening  the  day  before,  and  said: 

"I  was  over  to  see  you  yesterday  evening,  and  was 
sorely  disappointed  at  finding  you  out.  But  I  trust 
you  had  a  delightful  time." 

"I  was  royally  entertained,"  she  said;  "but  cannot 
say  that  the  experience  was  delightful.  I  am  not 
much  given  to  society  as  she  is.  There  were  long 
trains,  decolette  dresses,  silly  conversations,  and  in 
sipid  smilings  and  bowings.  Everything  Avas  stilted. 
The  women  were  laced  within  an  inch  of  their  lives, 
and  the  men  were  soaked  in  champagne.  They  all 
danced  till  a  very  late  hour,  and  when  they  said  their 
simpering  good-byes  they  looked  like  wilted  ilowers 
from  which  the  beauty  and  fragrance  had  flown  for 
ever.  When  I  refused  to  dance,  they  had  no  better 
manners  than  to  stare  at  me  in  amazement.  I  was 
really  glad  when  the  affair  was  over,  and  Mr.  Brown 
led  me  to  the  carriage." 

"How  did  you  amuse  yourself  during  the  evening 
if  you  did  not  dance?"  I  inquired. 

"The  hostess  kindly  showed  me  through  the  li 
brary,  art  gallery  and  conservatory,  which  occupied 
some  of  the  time ;  and  then  I  met  a  number  of  inter 
esting  personages  with  whom  I  conversed.  By  the 
way,  do  you  know  a  Mr.  Sidney  Vincent?" 

"The  railroad  man?"  I  asked.  "Yes,  he  is  first  vice- 
president  of  one  of  the  great  trunk  lines  leading  out 


THEY   ALL   DANCED   TILL   A   VERY    LATE    HOUR.- 
Page  140. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  143 

of  Chicago.  Was  be  there?  He  is  a  very  talented 
and  very  wealthy  gentleman." 

"So  1  surmised,"  said  she.  "And  he  is  quite  young 
for  one  so  distinguished.  He  is  very  versatile,  and  I 
really  enjoyed  my  conversation  with  him,  which  can 
not  be  said  of  any  the  others  I  met.  He  accompanied 
the  hostess  and  myself  in  our  rounds  of  the  house, 
and  I  was  surprised  at  the  knowledge  of  books,  paint 
ings  and  flowers  he  displayed." 

"Yes,  he  is  a  man  of  many  parts,"  I  remarked.  "He 
was  a  member  of  my  church  before  the  disaffection 
caused  by  my  tirade  against  sins  in  high  life  last  fall, 
and  we  were  good  friends.  But  since  then  we  seldom 
meet,  as  he  withdrew  from  my  congregation  at  the 
time." 

"He  seemed  to  be  on  warm  terms  with  Mr.  Brown'," 
she  continued,  "and  in  response  to  the  banker's  invi 
tation  promised  to  dine  with  us  some  evening  next 
week." 

"Ahem!"  was  all  I  could  say,  immediately  changing 
the  subject  by  referring  to  an  article  of  special  inter 
est  in  one  of  the  late  magazines.  I  had  come  over 
with  the  intention  of  declaring  my  love,  but  the  Vin 
cent  episode  had  driven  the  resolution  far  from  me. 
Perhaps  it  was  just  as  well,  for  Mrs.  Brown  came  in 
shortly  after,  and  if  I  had  attempted  the  declaration, 
she  would  undoubtedly  have  caught  me  in  the  very 
act. 

The  days  flew  past,    I  saw  my  study  often, 


144  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

with  over-increasing  admiration.  But  others  saw 
her  too,  much  to  my  unrest.  Two  or  three  admirers 
from  other  cities  called  to  see  her,  and  a  half  dozen  * 
or  more  from  Chicago.  But  among  them  all  none 
were  so  attentive  as  Mr.  Sidney  Vincent,  the  railroad 
magnate.  He  took  her  out  to  swell  receptions,  to 
the  theater,  and  to  hear  great  lecturers.  She  came 
with  the  Browns  to  hear  me  on  Sundays,  and  always 
seemed  glad  to  see  me  when  I  called,  as  I  did  quite 
regularly.  I  had  become  a  fairly  good  rider  by  this 
time,  and  on  several  occasions  we  went  cycling  to 
gether.  Her  visit  was  prolonged  two  months  or 
more,  and  still  I  seemed  no  nearer  that  declaration  I 
so  longed  to  make  than  I  had  been  at  the  beginning. 
She  was  under  no  obligations  to  me,  and  yet  I  was 
intensely  angry  that  she  should  receive  the  atten 
tions  of  Vincent  so  continuously.  But  I  managed  to 
hold  my  tongue,  nurse  niy  jealousy,  and  so  avoid  a 
rupture. 

"Well,  Doctor,  I'm  going  home  to-morrow,"  she 
said  one  evening  as  I  was  making  my  accustomed  call 
at  the  Browns. 

''You  don't  say!"  said  I.     'Tni  very  sorry." 

''Why  should  you  be?"  she  asked. 

"Because  I've  taken  great  pleasure  in  your  com 
pany,  and  have  been  profited  exceedingly  by  your 
conversation.-' 

"Thank  you,  Doctor;  and  permit  me  to  say  sin 
cerely  that  your  feelings  are  fully  reciprocated." 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  145 

Here  was  a  good  place  to  say  what  I  had  so  long 
concealed.  Rut  I  hesitated,  and  five  minutes  later 
"the  butler  announced  that  Mr.  Sidney  Vincent  was 
at  the  door,  and  would  Miss  Thome  be  pleased  to 
take  a  drive  with  him? 

She  did  not  seem  anxious  to  go,  I  thought.  But  as 
she  could  not  well  refuse,  she  excused  herself  from 
me,  and  hastened  to  her  room  to  prepare  for  the  drive. 

"One  moment,"  said  I,  as  she  was  leaving  the  par 
lor.  "If  agreeable,  I  will  accompany  you  to  the  sta 
tion  to-morrow?" 

"Oh,  thank  you !  I  should  be  delighted  to  have  you 
do  so,  had  other  arrangements  not  been  made.  I  neg 
lected  to  tell  you  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  had  sud 
denly  decided  to  run  out  to  the  Villa  to-morrow  also, 
and  Mr.  Vincent  has  kindly  offered  to  take  us  all  to 
gether  in  his  private  car." 

"Then,  good-bye,"  said  I,  extending  my  hand.  "I 
shall  be  very  busy  to-morrow,  and  will  probably  not 
see  you  again.  Express  my  kindest  regards  to  your 
parents  and  sister,  and  may  you  have  a  merry  journey 
home." 

She  took  my  hand,  and  I  imagined  that  her  clasp 
was  more  prolonged  and  firm  than  was  actually 
necessary  according  to  established  custom.  And 
there  seemed  to  be  a  look  half  akin  to  sadness  in 
those  deep,  blue  eyes,  as  she  said: 

"Good-bye,  Doctor.  I  shall  never  forget  your  many 
kindnesses,  and  encouraging  words.  I  hope  you  will 


146  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

visit  us  again  at  Smithville,  and  that  at  no  distant 
day." 

She  was  gone,  and  with  heavy  heart  I  retired  to  the 
library,  until  she  and  Mr.  Vincent  drove  out  of  sight. 
Then  I  wearily  took  my  departure,  only  to  spend  a 
sleepless  night  in  my  lonely  room. 


DIVERGING  PATHS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
DIVERGING  PATHS. 

"We  met,  hand  to  hand, 

We  clasped  hands  close  and  fast, 
As  close  as  oak  and  ivy  stand; 

But  it  is  past; 
Come  day,  come  night,  day  comes  at  last." 

— ROSSETTI. 

During  July  the  weather  was  simply  suffocating. 
My  work  dragged,  and  my  health  declined  rapidly. 
From  some  unaccountable  reason  I  had  not  felt  so 
pooi'ly  in  years,  and  I  evidently  looked  like  a  corpse, 
for  my  Official  Board  voted  unanimously  to  allow  me 
a  three  months'  vacation.  An  assistant  pastor  was 
secured  to  begin  work  immediately,  and  so  on  the 
first  day  of  August  I  packed  my  trunk  and  left  the 
city. 

First  I  visited  the  old  home  in  Kentucky. 

"Poor  Frank,"  said  my  gentle  mother,  as  we  sat  in 
the  family  room  the  first  evening  after  my  arrival. 
"You  have  been  working  too  hard." 

I  made  no  reply,  but  secretly  upbraided  myself  for 
not  telling  her  all  about  my  sweet  girl  in  bloomers. 
It  did  not  seem  wise  to  divulge  particulars,  however, 
so  I  kept  my  own  counsel. 


150  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

"Lor'  bress  my  soul,  chile,  what's  do  matter?"  said 
old  Aunt  Dinah,  as  with  arms  akimbo  and  wide-open 
eyes  she  stared  at  my  pale,  hollow  cheeks  and  lank 
form.  "You'se  done  and  preached  yerse'f  to.  death, 
honey.  Time  you'se  coiniii'  back  to  old  Kaintuck  to 
git  some  flesh  on  dem  bones.  l)ut  city  grub  am  no 
good.  Takes*  Aunt  Dinah's  hoe-cake  to  chirk  you  up." 

Evidently  I  had  changed  considerably  in  appear 
ance,  for  few  of  the  old  neighbors  knew  me.  The 
first  morning  after  my  return  I  took  a  stroll  down  the 
lane,  and  called  at  the  humble  home  of  a  versatile  old 
colored  friend^  known  far  ami  near  as  Deacon  Ham. 
The  good  old  man,  a  relic  of  slavery  times,  was  sitting 
on  a  low  stool  in  the  luxurious  shade  of  a  gigantic 
elm.  lie  was  smoking  some  leaf-tobacco  of  his  own 
raising  and  drying,  and  SjeeiiHxl  at  peace  with  all  the 
world. 

"Good  morning.  Deacon/'  said  I,  slapping  the  old 
fellow  familiarly  on  UK>  shoulder. 

"Howdy,  sah,"  said  he,  scrutinizing  my  face  with  a 
look  of  uncertainty. 

"Why,  Deacon,  don't  }*ou  know  me?"  I  asked. 

"Your  voice  sounds  similar,  chile,"  said  he,  still 
studying  my  features;  "but  I  can't  jist  organize  ye/' 

For  the  first  time  in  a  month  I  laughed  heartily. 
Then  I  made  myself  known,  and  the  old  man  was  so 
chagrined  to  think  of  his  failure  in  recalling  my  face 
and  name  that  he  fairly  outdid  himself  in  hospitality, 
hoping  thereby  to  make  amends.  He  cut  the  biggest 


A  RELIC  OF  SLAVERY  TIMBS  WAS  SITTING  ON  A 
LOW  STOOL  IN  THE  LUXURIOUS  SHADE  OP  A 
GIGANTIC  OAK.— Page  150. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  153 

watermelon  he  could  find  in  the  patch,  and  enter 
tained  me  with  a  prodigality  as  amusing  as  it  was 
surprising. 

For  ten  days  I  tarried  under  the  paternal  roof, 
revelling  in  the  scenes  of  my  childhood.  John  How 
ard  Payne  spoke  the  sentiment  of  the  whole,  wide 
world  when  he  said, 

"There  is  no  place  like  home." 

Now  in  the  garden  helping  Aunt  Dinah  pick  berries, 
eating  two  while  I  put  one  in  the  basket;  then  in  the 
parlor,  singing  some  sweet  old  duet  with  sister,  while 
mother  looked  on  with  face  all  shining — heaven- 
kissed  with  light  and  love;  again  romping  through 
the  pastures  gathering  the  pretty  wild  flowrers,  or  sit 
ting  by  the  brook  angling  for  perch,  as  in  the  good 
old  times  when  I  played  truant  from  school,  the  days 
passed  all  too  quickly.  But  I  was  restless,  and  de 
cided  to  go  on  at  once. 

"Oh,  please  stay,"  begged  sister.  "It  is  so  good  to 
have  you  here, — good  for  us  and  good  for  you, 
brother.  You  know  Longfellow  says: 

'Stay,  stay  at  home,  my  heart  and  rest; 
Home-keeping  hearts  are  happiest, 
For  those  that  wander  they  know  not  where 
Are  full  of  trouble  and  full  of  care; 
To  stay  at  home  is  best.' 

Do  stay  until  you  are  strong  again,  for  it  makes  us 
all  sad  to  see  you  looking  so  badly." 


151  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

"I'll  soon  be  all  right,  sister,''  said  I,  gaily.  "A 
trip  to  the  sea  will  do  me  good.  You  know  I  am 
very  fond  of  salt-water  bathing.  And  then  the  eon 
staut  change  of  travel  is  exhilarating  to  me.  No,  I 
feel  that  I  should  go." 

Aiid  so  1  went.  Pirat  by  rail  to  Toledo,  where  1 
took  ship  for  Cleveland  by  way  of  1'u Mil-Bay.  1 
shall  never  forget  that  ride  across  Lake  Erie,  it 
was  a  perfect  day.  Tlie  Bteiiiner  was  a  palatial  one, 
the  waters  placid^  and  the  company  jovial.  During 
the  afternoon  light,.  Ileccy,  clouds  winged  their  yvay 
continuously  beneath  the  deep  blue  background  of 
sky  which  reached  in  unbroken  wealth  of  color  from 
horizon  to  horizon.  An  hour  before  we  reached 
our  destination  the  sun  set.  Its  good-night  rays 
stretched  across  tin."  lake  like  great  rods  of  gold, 
shimmering  and  glimmering  on  the  spray  in  inde 
scribable  beauty.  fitting  ti}>on  the  upper  deck,  1 
drank  in  the  splendor  of  (h-e  sce-ne  for  miles,  till  an 
air  of  contentment  1  had'  not  known  fW  weeks  pos 
sessed  my  soul. 

Tarrying  a  day  in  i>u-sy  ClevekuKl,  1  visited,  among 
other  places  of  interest,  Garfield  monument.  Re 
moving  my  hat,  I  stood  for  a  Long  time  before  the 
ashes  of  our  martyred  president,,  musing  on  the 
strange  freaks  of  fate.  Here  was  a  man  than  whom 
a  more  scholarly,  eilicieut,  patriotic  and  Christian 
never  occupied  the  highest  cluiir  within  the  gift,  of 
his  countrymen,  suddenly  cul  down  while  in  the 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  155 

glory  of  his  power,  and  this  at  the  hands  of  an  irre 
sponsible  shadow  of  humanity.  How  cruel!  And 
yet  in  his  death  he  perhaps  exerted  greater  influence 
in  favor  of  the  flag  for  which  he  had  fought,  and  the 
Bible  by  which  he  had  lived,  than  he  could  have  done 
in  a  century  of  average  living.  God  doeth  all  things 
well,  thought  I,  as  I  turned  away.  And  yet  in  my 
present  frame  of  mind,  with  visions  of  a  blue-eyed 
bloomer  girl  Hitting  far  from  me  in  the  private  car 
of  a  dashing  young  railroad  king,  I  could  hardly  swal 
low  my  own  theological  medicine. 

"He  is  playing  a  bold  game,"  said  I,  soliloquizing. 
"Well,  we  shall  see.  Knowing  her  as  I  do,  I  cannot 
believe  it  possible  that  he  will  be  successful.  And 
yet,  why  should  he  not  be?" 

From  Cleveland  I  went  to  Chautauqua — gay  Chau- 
tauqua,  resort  of  the  learned,  the  good  and  the  happy 
from  all  over  this  fair  land.  An  exquisite  lake  18 
miles  long,  1,21)0  feet  above  sea  level,  clear  and  cool, 
its  shores  dotted  here  and  there  with  pretty  villages 
and  rural  homes,  certainly  an  ideal  place  for  the 
establishment  of  a  world-renowned  summer  as 
sembly.  Here  I  met  numerous  friends  from  Chicago 
and  other  cities,  and  tarried  several  days,  keenly 
relishing  the  brilliant  lectures,  superb  music,  and 
congenial  society  with  which  visitors  to  this  remark 
able  spot  are  always  regaled. 

And  yet  I  was  not  happy.  Until  that  fatal  night 
when  my  love  met  Sidney  Vrinceut,  I  felt  that  she 


156  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

was  mine.  Our  paths  seemed  to  lead  naturally  into 
each  others  and  a  union  of  bliss  seemed  sure.  But 
now  I  felt  that  our  paths  were  diverging,  and  a 
throbbing  sadness  I  could  not  throw  off  possessed 
my  heart.  It  seldom  entered  my  mind  that  I  was  in 
any  way  to  blame  for  the  condition  of  affairs.  Nor 
was  she.  It  was  cold,  cruel,  selfish  Sidney  Vincent 
whom  I  censured.  But  one  evening  as  I  was  think 
ing  it  all  over,  as  I  had  done  a  thousand  times  be 
fore,  I  said  to  myself,  Why  should  I  blame  him?  He 
is  young,  rich,  attractive,  bold.  Grace  Thorne  is 
magnificent.,  Why  should  he  not  seek  her  hand?  I 
do  not  deserve  so  fair  a  woman,  for  I  am  compara 
tively  poor — poor  in  this  world's  goods,  poor  in 
health,  and  poor  in  resolve.  She  has  been  very 
friendly  toward  me  because  it's  her  nature,  and  she 
pities  me.  But  when  it  comes  to  loving,  why  of 
course  Sidney  Vincent  has  the  advantage  every  time. 

In  all  of  which  I  did  my  study  a  great  injustice, 
not  to  mention  myself.  Diverging  paths  are  gen 
erally  dangerous. 

Oh,  for  some  one  with  whom  to  counsel!  thought  I. 
Since  our  good-byes  were  said  nearly  six  weeks  be- 
,fore>  I  had  not  mentioned  my  dear  one's  name  to  a 
living  soul.  Mrs.  Brown?  Why,  yes!  Why  not 
write  to  her?  Certainly..  I  will!  Strange  it  has 
not  occurred  to  me  before. 

And  snatching  a  pen  and  some  paper,  I  hastily 
penned  the  following  lines  to  the  banker's  wife : 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  159 

Clmulauqua,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  15,  1896. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Brown: 

Here  I  am  trying  to  enjoy  my  vacation.  But  I 
must  confess  to  you  that  I  am  not  happy.  You  once 
said  that  you  wished  Miss  Thome  and  myself  might 
become  more  to  each  other  than  friends.  At  that 
time  I  was  indifferent.  But  now  I  am  madly  in  love. 
I  have  never  told  her  so,  and  judging  from  the  suc 
cess  of  Mr.  Sidney  Vincent  in  monopolizing  her  com 
pany,  presume  I  will  never  have  the  privilege  of  de 
claring  my  affections.  I  have  never  spoken  of  these 
things  to  a  living  soul  before,  and  may  be  presuming 
on  good  nature  to  annoy  you  with  them;  but  I  must 
have  counsel.  Please  write  me  at  Toronto.  I  will 
be  there  in  a  few  days.  Tell  me  all. 

Your  Obedient  Servant, 

FKANK  CHARLTON. 

The  next  day  I  ran  on  to  Niagara  Palls.  Securing 
comfortable  quarters  at  a  quiet  boarding  house,  I 
sallied  forth  on  my  wheel.  Crossing  to  Goat  Island, 
1  rode  leisurely  along  the  beautiful  drive-way  till  I 
came  to  the  Three  Sisters.  Here  I  dismounted,  and 
cautiously  made  my  way  to  a  huge  rock  well  out  in 
the  current  only  a  short  distance  above  the  Cana 
dian  Falls.  I  did  not  contemplate  suicide,  but  just 
wished  to  revel  in  the  novelty  and  grandeur  of  the 
situation.  Its  very  excitement  was  restful.  The  un 
ceasing  roar  of  the  waters,  like  a  thousand  thunders, 


160  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

charmed  me,  and  acted  as  a  palliative  to  my  troubled 
soul.  Mrs.  Sigourney's  "Niagara,"  which  I  had  often 
declaimed  when  a  boy  at  school,  came  to  mind,  and, 
as  there  was  nobody  near,  I  could  not  resist  the 
pleasure  of  repeating  the  matchless  lines  in  my 
deepest  orotund: 

"Plow  on  forever,  in  thy  glorious  robe 
Of  terror  and  of  beauty.     Yea,  flow  on, 
Unfathomed  and  resistless.     God  hath  set 
His  rainbow  on  thy  forehead,  and  the  cloud 
Mantled  around  thy  feet.     And  He  doth  give 
Thy  voice  of  thunder  power  to  speak  of  Him 
Eternally — bidding  the  lip  of  man 
Keep  silence,  and  upon  thine  altar  pour 
Incense  of  awe-struck  praise." 

During  the  next  two  days  I  visited  numerous 
points  of  interest  in  the  locality,  such  as  Lundy's 
Lane  Battle-ground,  Brock's  Monument,  Whirlpool 
Rapids,  the  Devil's  Hole,  and  the  Cave  of  the  Winds. 
I  took  a  trip  on  the  Maid  of  the  Mist,  as  also  on  the 
electric  railway  which  gives  one  a  panoramic  view  of 
this  wonderland  for  miles.  I  visited  the  islands  at 
night,  and  enjoyed  unspeakably  that  peculiar  soft 
ness  and  sweet  intluence  which  comes  with  the  moon 
light  when  shed  over  a  lovely  scene.  I  tried  to  re 
cord  my  impressions  and  write  a  little  description 
of  the  place  for  future  reference,  but  failed  in  the 
attempt.  For  more  than  three  centuries  the  pens 
of  poets  and  prose-writers  have  fallen  short  of  the 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  161 

task,  which  can  never  be  adequately  accomplished. 
So  fascinated  was  I  with  the  place  that  I  would  have 
remained  longer,  but  for  my  anxiety  to  receive  Mrs. 
Brown's  letter  which  I  had  ordered  addressed  to 
Toronto.  I  had  visited  Niagara  on  several  occasions 
before,  but  never  with  such  interest.  Was  it  my 
love  for  Grace  Thorne  that  gave  zest  to  everything 
this  time?  Perhaps,  for  the  knowing  ones  assure  us 
that  love  is  synonymous  with  beauty  and  grandeur. 
A  hundred  times  during  the  visit  I  had  wished  that 
my  dear  one  were  present.  To  have  walked  with 
her  among  the  vine-twined  trees  of  Goat  Island, 
hand  in  hand;  to  have  sat  with  her  on  some  rustic 
seat  in  some  quiet  nook,  breathing  the  love  I  had 
never  dared  to  speak ;  to  have  driven  with  her  to  the 
jnountain's  summit  or  the  Indian  Village,  and  re 
turned  by  moonlight — but,  alas!  Mr.  Sidney  Vin 
cent's  ghost  forbade. 

Taking -an  evening  boat  at  the  village  of  Lewiston, 
I  enjoyed  a  seven  miles'  ride  down  the  river,  .and 
thence  out  into  Lake  Ontario.  This  three  hours' 
ride  across  the  lake  to  Toronto  was  one  never  to  be 
forgotten.  For  many  miles  before  we  reached  our 
destination  I  stood  on  deck  and  wratched  the  signal 
lights,  which  could  easily  be  distinguished  from 
those  of  the  city.  Commerce!  Commerce!  thought  I. 
What  a  wonderful  thing  it  has  become  since  the  days 
of  Fulton,  whose  bravery  to  dare  something  new  in 
duced  the  ridicule  of  his  countrymen.  And  then  my 


162  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

mind  reverted  to  bloomers  and  dress  reform.  Per 
haps  I  did  not  think  connectedly;  but  as  in  the  days 
of  Caesar  all  roads  led  to  Rome,  so  at  this  time  all 
my  thoughts  centered  in  Grace  Thorne. 

The  next  morning  I  was  at  the  post  office* early. 
I  was  til  most  afraid  to  inquire  if  there  were  any  mail 
for  me,  somehow  doubting  the  probability  of  such  a 
thing.  But  I  inquired,  and  out  came  a  letter!  Post 
marked  "Smith ville"  too.  Dear,  good  Mrs.  P>rown! 

Hurrying  to  my  room,  I  tremulously  opened  ihe 
missive  and  read: 

Spring  Rock  Villa,  Wis.,  Aug.  18,  189G. 
My  Dear  Doctor  Charlton: 

You  cannot  know  how  pleased  I  was  to  receive 
your  note,  but  sorry  to  hear  of  your  unhappiness. 
It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  assure  you,  I  trust,  that  I 
sympathize  with  you  fully,  and  shall  do  anything  in 
my  power  to  help  you. 

In  the  first  place,  I  want  you  to  know  that  while 
Mr.  Vincent  is  a  good  friend  of  my  husband's  and 
myself,  I  should  regret  exceedingly  to  see  him  win 
the  hand  of  Miss  Grace.  He  is  very  attentive,  'tis 
true;  but  I  have  numerous  reasons  for  believing 
there  is  nothing  between  them  yet  save  friendship. 
He  is  undoubtedly  very  much  in  earnest,  and  intends 
declaring  himself  at  no  very  distant  day.  But  T 
honestly  doubt  whether  she  will  accept  him. 

Miss  Grace  has  been  at  home  all  summer,  and  vis 
its  me  often,  running  out  to  the  Villa  on  her  wheel. 


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THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  165 

She  is  certainly  as  charming  as  ever,  and  to  my  mind 
the  best  all-around  woman  of  the  present  day.  She 
and  her  sister  won  first  prize  in  a  sculling  race  at 
Madison  last  week.  There  was  a  regatta  there,  and 
we  all  went  down.  Quite  a  number  of  ladies  en 
tered  the  contest,  but  among  them  all  none  were  so 
fair  and  strong  as  our  heroine.  She  and  Josephine 
had  been  practicing  for  a  month  or  more,  and  were 
in  splendid  trim.  As  they  rowed  in  perfect  rhythm, 
the  long  oars  fairly  bent  beneath  their  powerful  mus 
cles.  The  crowd  assembled  to  witness  the  races 
went  wild  with  applause. 

Next  week  Mr.  Vincent  will  call  at  Suiithville  with 
his  private  car,  and  take  the  Thornes  with  him  for  a 
little  outing  in  the  great  west.  His  mother  and 
father  will  accompany  them,  and  several  business 
friends.  It  wrill  be  a  merry  little  party  I  suppose. 
They  will  spend  the  entire  month  of  September  on 
the  trip.  Returning,  Miss  Grace  is  under  promise 
to  deliver  some  lectures  in  a  number  of  Eastern  cit 
ies.  She  has  not  been  idle  amidst  all  her  sports,  but 
what  with  writing  for  the  magazines,  and  preparing 
some  addresses  on  the  great  questions  in  which  we 
are  all  so  deeply  interested,  she  has  been  very  busy 
since  her  return  from  Chicago. 

By  the  way,  Doctor,  why  do  you  not  write  her? 
She  has  mentioned  the  matter  two  or  three  times  to 
me,  and  seems  somewhat  hurt  to  think  you  cared  so 
little  for  her,  >Ve  often  speak  of  you.  and  i  h.ave 


166  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

been  led  more  than  once  to  surmise  from  casual  re 
marks  she  has  made,  that  you  have  a  very  warm 
place  in  her  heart.  Press  your  suit,  and  the  prize  is 
yours. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

MRS.  BROWN. 

To  say  that  this  letter  did  me  goo.d  is  putting  it 
mildly.  Like  water  to  a  thirsty  man  in  mid-desert, 
so  were  Mrs.  Brown's  encouraging  words  to  me.  Of 
course  there  were  some  things  in  the  communication 
that  were  not  calculated  to  allay  my  misgivings,  for 
instance  that  month's  trip  to  the  great  west.  But 
the  fact  that  she  wished  me  to  write  her,  and  that 
Mrs.  Brown  thought  activity  on  my  part  in  pressing 
affection's  claims  could  not  but  result  in  victory, 
cheered  me  immensely.  I  wrote  immediately,  a  nice 
long  letter,  but  void  of  sentiment,  and  addressed  it 
to  Smithville,  hoping  to  reach  her  before  her  de 
parture  with  the  Vincent  combination.  I  did  not  re 
quest,  but  suggested  a  reply.  I  stopped  in  Toronto 
a  week,  drinking  in  the  charms  of  that  fairest  Cana 
dian  city.  Not  expecting  any  mail,  I  seldom  went  to 
the  post  office.  But  the  evening  before  I  was  to 
leave,  I  strolled  around  that  way,  and  received  a 
lovely  letter  from  Miss  Thorne.  She  had  enjoyed 
my  communication  very  much,  she  said,  and  hastened 
to  answer.  She  wrote  at  length  concerning  her 
doings  since  we  had  parted  in  Chicago,  spoke  solici- 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  167 

tously  of  my  health,  and  urged  me  to  devote  myself 
assiduously  to  exercise,  quoting  the  words  of  Dry- 
den: 

"Better  to  hunt  in  fields  for  health  unbought, 
•  Than  fee  the  doctor  for  a  nauseous  draught. 

The  wise  for  cure  on  exercise  depend; 

God  never  made  his  work  for  man  to  mend." 

She  concluded  by  wishing  me  a  pleasant  vacation, 
and  assured  me  that  a  letter  from  me  would  be 
gladly  received  at  any  time.  And  more,  she  begged 
that  I  would  not  forget  that  the  "latch-string  was 
always  out"  for  me  at  her  home,  and  she  hoped  I 
would  see  fit  to  remember  them  with  a  visit  before 
my  return  to  active  work. 

For  the  first  time  in  many  weeks  I  was  happy.  A 
spirit  of  confidence  seemed  to  be  brooding  over  me, 
and  life  once  more  grew  wondrously  sweet.  Leav 
ing  Toronto  on  one  of  the  splendid  boats  that  makes 
traveling  a  luxury  between  Montreal  and  the  West 
during  the  summer,  I  disembarked  at  Kingston  the 
following  day,  and  after  a  visit  to  the  fortifications 
which  are  the  chief  attraction  of  that  sleepy  old 
town,  proceeded  toward  Alexandria  Bay  through 
the  Thousand  Isles.  Securing  pleasant  quarters  at 
this  far-famed  resort,  I  settled  down  for  a  month's 
solid  rest  and  recreation.  I  soon  formed  congenial 
acquaintances,  and  gave  mj-self  up  to  fishing,  picnic 
parties,  long  rides  on  the  wheel  and  bathing.  I  had 


1C8  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

never  taken  much  interest  in  rowing,  but  now  I 
threw  myself  into  the  sport  with  the  zeal  of  a  college 
man  who  knows  more  of  oars  than  of  books.  A  num 
ber  of  us  got  our  heads  together  and  improvised  a 
gymnasium,  and  what  with  dumb-bells,  horizontal 
bars,  and  sand  bags,  together  with  bowling,  rowing 
and  cycling,  I  soon  regained  my  old-time  vigor  with 
much  to  boot.  We  made  a  number  of  century  runs 
on  our  wheels,  and  long  before  the  mouth  was  up  I 
had  the  muscles  of  a  pugilist  and  the  color  of  a  farm 
hand. 

The  second  week  after  my  arrival  at  the  Bay,  I 
concluded  to  answer  Miss  Grace's  letter,  which  I  had 
carried  next  my  heart  ever  since  I  had  left  Toronto. 
It  was  Sunday,  and  in  the  quiet  of  my  room,  which 
overlooked  the  majestic  river,  I  expressed  myself  as 
follows: 

Alexandria  Bay,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  9,  1800. 
My  Dear  Miss  Thome: 

Allow  me  to  say  that  your  kind  letter,  received 
just  before  I  left  Toronto,  gave  me  great  pleasure. 
I  beg  your  pardon  for  not  having  written  sooner,  and 
assure  you  that  it  was  not  because  of  any  indiffer 
ence  on  my  part.  No,  I  would  rather  correspond 
.  with  you  than  anybody  else.  But  I  felt  that  perhaps 
letters  from  my  pen  would  be  an  intrusion,  and  so 
did  not  write. 

What  a  delightful  time  you  have  had  during  the 
summer!  And  vet  how  busv  vou  have  been.  It 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  169 

must  be  exhilarating  to  be  always  at  one's  best, 
equally  ready  for  work  or  play.  This  seems  to  be 
the  case  with  you,  and  if  this  is  one  of  your  new- 
woman  ideas,  I  say  god- speed. 

It  is  with  pleasure  I  assure  you  that  my  health 
is  becoming  exuberant.  And  as  to  exercise,  I'm  be 
coming  a  regular  crank.  Yesterday  I  rode  100  uiles 
on  my  wheel,  and  then  rowed  an  hour  before  retir 
ing.  To-morrow  a  party  of  us  are  going  out  camping. 
We  will  take  our  guns,  blankets,  cooking  utensils, 
and  fishing  tackle,  and  rough  it  for  a  week  at  least. 

Were  you  ever  at  the  St.  Lawrence?  I  believe 
you  told  me  once  that  you  had  never  been.  Well, 
it's  the  grandest  river  in  the  world  without  a  doubt, 
and  one  of  the  most  delightful  spots  on  earth  in 
which  to  while  away  the  hot  weeks  of  summer.  This 
morning  I  was  reading  "Geraldine."  I  presume  you. 
have  read  that  exquisite  poem;  if  not,  please  permit 
me  to  send  you  a  copy.  The  author  spent  many 
weeks  in  this  fascinating  locality,  and  perhaps  a  quo 
tation  or  two  from  his  lines  might  be  interesting: 

"Fair  St.  Lawrence!    What  poet  has  sung  of  its  grace 
As  it  sleeps  in  the  sun,  with  its  smile-dimpled  face 
Beaming  up  to  the  sky  that  it  mirrors?    What  brush        ' 
Has  e'er  pictured  the  charm  of  the  marvelous  hush 
Of  its  silence,  or  caught  the  warm  glow  of  its  tints 
As  the  afternoon  wanes,  and  the  even-star  glints 
In  its  beautiful  depths?  and  what  pen  shall  betray 
The  sweet  secrets  that  hide  from  man's  vision  away 


170  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

In  its  solitudes  wild?     'T  is  the  river  of  dreams. 
You  may  float  in  your  boat  on  the  bloom-bordered  streams. 
Where  its  islands  like  emeralds  matchless  are  set, 
And  forget  that  you  live,  and  as  quickly  forget 
That  they  die  in  that  world  you  have  left;  for  the  calm 
Of  content  is  within  you,  the  blessing  of  balm 
Is  upon  you  forever.     Mortality  sleeps 
While  you  dream,  an  immortal;   some  mistiness  creeps 
Like  a  veil  of  forgetfulness  over  your  past, 
And  it  is  not.      Your  day  is  eternal,  to  last 
Without  darkness,  or  change,  or  the  shadow  of  dread. 
Blessed  isles  where  to-day  arid  to-morrow  are  wed 
In  such  fulness  of  bliss!     Blessed  river  that  smiles 
In  such  beauty  and,  peace  by  the  beautiful  isles!" 

No  wonder  Holland  loved  to  spend  his  summers 
here.  It  is  an  ideal  spot  for  poets,  a  veritable  para 
dise  for  verse-makers  and  lovers.  Kre  you  hear 
from  me  again  T  will  have  shot  the  rapids — a  most 
exciting  experience  they  say — and  have  visited  Mon 
treal  and  Quebec-.  I  trust  you  may  favor  me  with  a 
letter  at  the  hitter  plaee,  from  which  I  will  write  you 
previous  to  my  departure  on  a  long  hunting  trip  up 
in  the  wilds  of  Uritish  Columbia. 

I  presume  you  are  now  in  the  far  west,  enjoying 
your  trip  to  the  utmost.  It  is  very  kind  of  Mr.  Vin- 
*  cent  to  afford  you  such  an  opportunity,  and  I'm  sure 
you  will  make  the  best  of  it.  1  shall  not  be  sur 
prised  if  I  read  of  your  making  free-silver  speeches 
to  the  Californians,  and  championing  the  movement 
which  favors  Government  ownership  of  railroads. 


SIDNEY  VINCENT.— Page  173. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  173 

Well,  rest  assured  of  my  sympathy.  You  have  a 
right  to  be  heard  on  every  great  question,  for  your 
views  are  sensible,  your  ability  remarkable,  and  your 
spirit  commendable. 

Miss  Thome,  I  cannot  say  all  I  would  like  to  s;iy 
at  this  time;  but  ere  my  return  to  work  I  hope  to  ac 
cept  your  invitation,  and  spend  a  little  time  with  you 
in  your  hospitable  home.  Then  I  shall  be  able  to 
speak  what  I  cannot  write,  I  trust,  and  we  shall 
know  each  other  better.  Farewell. 

Your  Devoted  Friend, 
FRANK  CHARLTON. 

1  tore  this  letter  up  and  re-wrote  it  twice  before 
mailing;  and  then  hesitated  lest  the  closing  para 
graph  should  prove  too  presumptions.  I  feared  that 
before  she  received  it  perhaps  Sidney  Vincent  would 
have  her  promise  to  wed,  and  then  what  a  fool  I 
would  seem  to  both. 

Oh,  foolish  man!  Could  you  have  seen  the  love- 
light  dancing  in  those  deep  blue  eyes  as  she  read 
that  self-same  paragraph,  your  soul  would  have  been 
filled  with  delight,  and  a  peace  unspeakable  would 
have  possessed  your  anxious  heart. 


A  WOMAN'S   PLEA  FOR 
NATIONAL    RIGHTEOUSNESS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

'A  WOMAN'S  PLEA  FOR  NATIONAL  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

"There  ought  to  be  a  system  of  manners  in  every  na 
tion,  which  a  well-formed  mind  would  be  disposed  to  relish. 
To  make  us  love  our  country,  our  country  ought  to  be 
lovely."— BURKE. 

"Then  none  was  for  a  party; 
Then  all  were  for  the  state; 
Then  the  great  man  helped  the  poor, 
And  the  poor  man  loved  the  great. 

The  lands  were  fairly  portioned; 

The  spoils  were  fairly  sold; 
The  Romans  were  like  brothers 

In  the  brave  days  of  old."         — MACAULAY. 

Five  weeks  passed.  At  Quebec  I  received  letters 
from  Mrs.  Brown  and  Miss  Thome,  both  of  which  I 
answered  at  length,  and  then  Jeft  for  a  long  hunt  in 
the  virgin  fields  of  the  far  north.  There  were  ten  of 
us  in  the  party,  all  professional  men  seeking  health 
and  pleasure.  We  found  both  in  rich  degree.  Sail 
ing  up  the  picturesque  Saguenay  as  far  as  navigable, 
we  bade  good-bye  to  civilization  and  plunged  into 
the  trackless  wastes  of  wood-land  and  prairie,  and 
were  abundantly  rewarded  with  good  shooting  and 
exhilarating  adventure. 

It  was  the  middle  of  October  before,  we  reached 
Quebec  on  the  return  trip.  We  had  seen  no  papers, 
nor  received  any  mail  for  a  month.  It  took  some 


178  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

time  to  catch  the  pace  of  events  once  more.  I  pur 
chased  a  ticket  for  Portland,  and  was  soon  under  the 
American  Hag  again.  Blessed  stars  and  stripes! 
How  my  heart  leapt  as  my  eyes  once  again  feasted 
on  the  glorious  ensign.  It  is  well  enough  to  spend  a 
few  weeks  under  the  "Union  Jack,"  but  for  steady 
living  give  me  "Old  Glory"  every  time. 

At  Portland  I  received  a  letter  from  Miss  Thome, 
in  which  she  gave  me  a  detailed  account  of  her  gala 
trip  through  the  west.  Mr.  Vincent's  name  was  not 
mentioned,  for  which  I  was  grateful.  She  had  vis 
ited  many  points  of  interest,  and  by  invitation  ad 
dressed  enthusiastic  dress-reform  meetings  in  sev 
eral  cities.  Returning  she  had  arranged  a  lecture 
tour  through  the  east  under  auspices  of  the  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  speaking  at  Cincin 
nati,  Pittsburg,  Buffalo,  Albany,  and  Boston,  from 
which  point  she  was  writing  me.  The  following 
evening  she  was  to  speak  in  New  York;  thence 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  Washington,  from 
whence  she  would  return  home. 

She  made  no  allusion  to  her  reception  in  the  dif 
ferent  cities,  modestly  leaving  that  for  me  to  find  out 
if  I  wished  to  know.  But  as  nearly  every  paper  I 
picked  up  had  something  in  its  columns  about  Miss 
Thome,  I  had  no  difficulty  in  learning  that  she  was 
rapidly  gaining  in  fame  and  influence.  While  some 
journals  condemned  her  and  her  work,  the  majority 
commended.  One  or  two  of  the  funny  papers 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  179 

printed  ridiculous  cartoons,  and  dubbed  her  the  "ty 
rant  in  bloomers."  But  nevertheless  vast  throngs 
came  to  see  and  hear  her  wherever  she  spoke,  and 
people  of  every  rank  were  moved  to  better  living  by 
her  earnest  appeals  in  behalf  of  a  higher  manhood 
and  womanhood.  Dress  reform  clubs  sprang  up  like 
magic  in  various  cities,  and  thousands  were  led  to 
adopt  her  simple  style  of  dress. 

"Can  I  reach  Washington  to-morrow  evening  by 
eight  o'clock?"  said  I  to  the  hotel  clerk  an  hour  after 
receiving  her  letter. 

"You  can  by  leaving  here  at  five  this  evening," 
was  the  reply. 

The  time  was  short,  but  T  determined  to  go.  To 
hear  Grace  Thome  in  one  of  her  now  famous  lec 
tures,  and  to  feast  my  e}~es  once  again  on  her  lovely 
face  and  matchless  form,  would  be  indeed  a  pleasure 
well  worth  the  effort. 

I  arrived  at  the  capital  in  good  season,  and,  se 
curing  quarters  at  the  Arlington,  hastened  to  the  box 
office  to  see  about  a  seat.  To  my  chagrin,  every  seat 
was  sold,  and  standing  room  at  a  premium,  and  this 
at  the  largest  opera  house  in  the  city.  Fortunately  I 
found  a  man  at  the  hotel  who  had  been  summoned 
out  of  the  city  by  telegram,  and  gladly  sold  his  ticket 
to  me.  It  lacked  yet  an  hour  till  the  lecture,  so  I 
put  in  the  time  dining.  Consequently,  I  was  in  a 
most  peaceful  frame  of  mind  when  I  reached  the 
great  auditorium,  and  was  shown  to  my  seat,  which 
proved  to  be  in  excellent  range  of  the  platform. 


180  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

The  band  plnyed  several  popular  airs  while  a  hun 
dred  distinguished  ladies  were  taking  seats  on  the 
stage  and  arranging  preliminaries.  Promptly  at  8:15 
the  speaker  appeared  in  company  with  her  friend 
and  mine,  Mrs.  Brown.  A  storm  of  applause  greeted 
the  heroine  of  the  hour,  and  after  a  happy  introduc 
tion  by  the  wife  of  a  noted  congressman,  a  leader  in 
social  circles,  Miss  Thorne  began.  I  did  not  take  a 
single  note,  but  think  I  can  reproduce  a  tolerably 
perfect  synopsis  of  the  address,  so  simple  was  it,  and 
yet  so  wondrously  earnest  and  impressive.  She  was 
dressed  in  bloomers,  as  usual.  Although  not  quite  so 
stout  as  when  I  had  last  seen  her,  she  was  still  the 
living  embodiment  of  glorious  health.  Her  eyes 
flashed  with  intelligence  and  depth  of  feeling  as  in  a 
voice  as  melodious  as  it  was  powerful,  she  said: 

"We  are  on  the  eve  of  a  national  election.  It 
should  be  a  matter  of  tremendous  moment  to  every 
citizen.  Every  American,  male  and  female,  should 
be  a  politician.  Not  a  partisan,  but  a  student  of  the 
science  of  government.  Great  dangers  threaten  the 
welfare  of  our  republic.  History  repeal  s  itself.  Some 
of  the  same  evils  that  have  figured  in  the  overthrow 
of  other  nations  are  now  preying  upon  our  body 
politic.  It  is  folly  to  cry, Peace,  peace!  when  there  is 
no  peace.  We  have  little  or  nothing  to  fear  from 
without.  All  the  powers  of  earth  united  could  not 
cope  with  America  in  a  struggle  at  arms,  Our 
Yankee  ingenuity,  proverbial  patriotism  and  indoin- 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  183 

itable  courage  would  rally  to  the  support  of  the  star- 
spangled  banner  and  successfully  defend  it  against 
all  opposition. 

"But  we  have  much  to  fear  from  within.  Nearly 
all  the  nations  of  antiquity  fell  because  of  internal 
corruption,  and  not  from  outward  assault.  One  by 
one  the  great  monarchies  of  earth  have  left  the 
world's  stage,  and  for  six  thousand  years  the  hope 
ful  have  sighed  in  vain  for  an  enduring  government. 
When  our  forefathers  crossed  the  stormy  deep  and 
blocked  the  United  States  from  the  wilds  of  a  new 
continent,  it  was  fondly  prophesied  that  here  in  Co 
lumbia,  fair  virgin  of  the  Occident,  would  be  realized 
the  dream  of  the  centuries. 

"Watchman,  what  of  the  night? 

"A  cursory  review  of  existing  conditions  cannot 
but  arouse  a  feeling  of  alarm  in  every  loyal  heart. 

"First,  in  this  land  of  plenty,  where  the  fertile  soil 
is  capable  of  producing  food  enough  to  feed  every 
mouth  in  the  world  and  plenty  to  spare  if  needs  be 
for  the  inhabitants  of  other  planets,  four  million  men 
are  idle  fully  eight  months  out  of  every  twelve. 
Millions  of  bushels  of  wheat  are  stored  in  the  eleva 
tors  of  the  land,  while  their  children  all  but  beg  for 
bread. 

"In  the  second  place,  while  the  rich  are  becoming 
richer,  the  poor  are  becoming  poorer.  With  seventy 
per  cent  of  the  wealth  of  the  nation  in  the  hands  of 
5,000  millionaires,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  we  are  slum- 


184  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

bering  on  the  verge  of  a  revolution  more  terrible 
than  history  has  yet  recorded. 

"Again,  our  long-boasted  liberties  are  being  im 
pugned.  An  aristocracy  of  wealth  is  dominating 
everything.  Money,  whether  accumulated  by  fair 
means  or  foul,  will  seat  almost  any  demagogue  in  the 
halls  of  legislation,  where  laws  are  enacted  to  suit 
the  favored  few.  So  great  has  become  the  power  of 
wealth  that  almost  every  other  ambition  has  been 
obscured,  and  the  advice  of  Ben  Jon  son  is  almost 
universally  heeded: 

'Get  money;   still  get  money,  boys, 
No  matter  by  what  means.' 

"We  are  now  twenty  .years  into  our  second  cen 
tury  as  an  independent  power.  Shall  we  be  able  to 
pass  through  without  disruption?  It  depends.  There 
are  several  gigantic  wrongs  that,  must  be  corrected 
if  we  succeed.  I  will  call  attention  to  a  few  of  these 
wrongs,  perhaps  not  in  the  order  of  their  magnitude, 
but  simply  as  they  occur  to  me. 

1.— THE  FINANCE  QUESTION. 

"What  the  blood  is  to  the  body,  money  is  to  the 
nation.  To  insure  health,  the  blood  must  be  pure, 
and  there  must  be  plenty  of  it.  So  to  insure  the  old- 
time  prosperity  of  this  country  again  we  must  have 
honest  money,  and  more  of  it.  Prior  to  1873  we  had 
fr^r?  coinage  of  silver.  Then  this  metal  was  demone- 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  185 

tized,  and  a  blow  struck,  the  effects  of  which  we  have 
been  feeling  the  past  three  years.  Silver  must  be  re 
stored  and  the  two  metals  maintained  at  a  reason 
able  parity  before  we  will  ever  see  the  prosperity  for 
which  we  are  all  longing1.  That  man  who  favors  a 
single  gold  standard  for  this  country  is  an  enemy  to 
his  flag.  He  may  not  realize  it,  but  foreign  capital 
does.  To-day  yast  American  properties  are  controlled 
by  p]nglish  capital,  a  thing  which  never  would  have 
occurred  under  bimetallism.  What  our  mother 
country  failed  to  do  with  shot:  and  shell,  she  is  slowly 
but  surely  accomplishing  with  her  gold.  It  is  high 
time  every  American  were  awake.  It  is  a  question 
of  votes,  and  he  who  loves  his  country  will  never  cast 
another  ballot  for  any  man  or  parly  pledged  to  the 
Bank  of  England's  policy  as  against  American  lib 
erty  and  prosperity. 

"Many  have  said  they  favored  bimetallism  provid 
ing  we  could  induce  (lermany,  France  and  other  na 
tions  to  go  in  with  us  and  make  the  policy  interna 
tional,  but  that  it  would  be  suicidal  for  us  to  attempt 
it  alone.  Oh,  my  countrymen!  Where  is  the  patriot 
ism  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Webster?  Have 
we  no  courage  left?  Is  it  so  bad  as  that?  Heaven 
forbid  that  this,  the  richest  and  most  powerful  gov 
ernment,  on  earth;  should  lick  the  hands  of  foreign 
capitalists,  and,  like  a  whipped  spaniel,  bide  the 
sweet  wishes  of  an  unworthy  superior.  Unable  to 
restore  silver  alone!  Suvh  talk  is  traitorous,  and 


186  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

the  politician  who  whines  it  in  his  canvass  for  votes 
should  promptly  be  boycotted  at  the  polls. 

"And  then  we  must  have  more  money  per  capita. 
Think  of  transacting  the  vast  business  of  (>5,000,000 
people  on  a  scanty  $25  per  head!  No  wonder  times 
are  close,  money  hard  to  get  and  everything  de 
pressed.  Elect  a  bimetallist  president  and  Congress, 
restore  silver,  then  double  the  circulation  per  capita 
within  five  years,  and  America  will  see  a  season  of 
prosperity  such  as  the  sun  has  never  looked  down 
upon  since  the  world  began. 

2.— PROHIBITION. 

'  'Ha!  see  where  the  wild,  blazing  grog-shop  appears, 

As  the  red  waves  of  wretchedness  swell; 
How  it  burns  on  the  edge  of  tempestuous  years — 
The  horrible  light-house  of  hell!' 

"Important  as  is  the  money  question  to  America, 
the  liquor  question  is  more  so.  It  touches  us  at  every 
angle  of  our  national  life,  only  to  blight,  wither  and 
curse.  And  yet  for  many  years  the  politicians  have 
cried,  Moral  suasion,  moral  suasion!  The  liquor 
question  is  one  that  properly  belongs  to  morals,  and 
should  not  be  lugged  into  politics!  I>ut  to  my  mind  it 
is  the  greatest  political  question  of  the  age.  When 
we  consider  that  there  are  in  round  numbers  250,000 
saloons  in  America,  which  annually  scoop  into  their 
tills  |1,500,000,()00— more  than  enough  to  pay  the  en 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  187 

tire  public  debt  of  the  nation — it  is  treason  to  our 
higher  interests  to  keep  the  saloon  question  out  of 
politics.  The  dominant  parties  of  the  country  have 
quarreled  over  the  tariff  for  many  campaigns.  Stump 
orators  have  shouted  themselves  hoarse  over  the  tar 
iff,  tariff,  tariff!  And  yet  it  is  a  small  question  com 
paratively.  A  matter  of  only  $278,000,000  in  1S94,  or 
less  than  one-fifth  the  amount  directly  involved  in  the 
saloon  question.  It  is  to  the  interests  of  brewers  and 
distillers  to  keep  up  this  everlasting  talk  about  the 
tariff,  for  it  serves  well  as  dust  with  which  to  blind 
the  eyes  of  voters.  No  matter  if  there  is  but  five 
per  cent  difference  between  the  Mills  and  McKiuley 
bills,  let  them  saw  away,  tweedle-dee  and  tweedle 
dum,  so  long  as  the  sacred  interests  of  the  still  house 
are  not  tampered  with! 

"Few  realize  the  enormity  of  this  evil.  Ex-Gov 
ernor  St.  John  estimates  the  number  of  drunkards 
who  annually  fill  untimely  graves  in  this  country  at 
150,000.  Think  of  it!  During  the  civil  war  both 
sides  lost  500,000  men.  It  was  a  calamity  never  to  be 
forgotten.  Yet  in  the  same  length  of  time  we  are 
now  burying  more  victims  of  the  wine  cup,  and  this  in 
a  time  of  peace,  arid  in  a  Christian  land!  Aside  from 
this  are  to  be  considered  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
sad-faced  wives  and  ragged  children,  the  blear-eyed 
poverty  and  hideous  ignorance,  and  all  the  awful 
crimes  caused  by  intemperance.  In  one  year  3,000 
wives  lost  their  lives  by  the  cruelty  of  drunken  hus- 


188  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

bands.  Ex-Governor  Dix  was  not  far  wrong  when  he 
said,  'Intemperance  is  the  undoubted  cause  of  four- 
fifths  of  all  the  crimes,  pauperism  and  domestic  mis 
ery  in  the  state  of  New  York/  Gladstone  declares 
that  'Intemperance  has  injured  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
more  than  war,  pestilence  and  famine.'  And  Leo 
pold,  Duke  of  Albany,  once  asserted  that  drink  was 
the  only  enemy  England  had  to  fear.  What  is  true  of 
the  mother  country  in  this  respect  is  true  of  her  giant 
offspring.  'AYhile  drinking  continues,'  said  Mr.  Live- 
SOA",  so  long  ago  as  1831,  'poverty  and  vice  will  pre 
vail;  and  until  this  is  abandoned  no  regulations,  no 
efforts,  no  authority  under  heaven  can  raise  the  con 
dition  of  the  working  classes.  It  is  worse  than  a 
plague  or  pestilence,  and  the  man  is  no  friend  to  his 
country  who  does  not  lift  up  his  voice  and  proclaim 
his  example  against  it.' 

"We  take  great  pride  in  our  public  schools,  and 
well  we  may.  The  little  red  schoolhonse  is  the  ar 
biter  of  our  destiny,  the  assurance  of  our  prosperity 
in  a  very  practical  sense.  And  whatever  power,  so 
cial,  political  or  ecclesiastical,  that  would  threaten 
our  school  system  should  be  summarily  shorn  of  its 
head.  We  have  millions  invested  in  our  school  prop 
erties.  And  yet  if  to-night  some  wanton  fiend  from 
an  unknown  world  should  sweep  across  the  continent 
with  a  mighty  torch  in  hand  and  fire  every  public 
school  building  in  the  land,  the  drink  bill  of  the 
country  for  lifty-two  weeks  would  restore  all  with 
abundant  interest ! 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  189 

Protection  or  free  trade,  hard  money  or  greenbacks, 
if  the  saloons  of  America  were  closed  to-morrow, 
never  again  to  open,  there  would  not  be  a  loaf  of 
bread,  a  pound  of  meat,  or  a  suit  of  clothes  left  in  the 
shops  "of  the  land  when  Saturday  night  came.  There 
is  no  such  thing  as  overproduction.  Such  a  state 
ment  is  a  travesty  on  truth,  a  lie  invented  by  political 
tricksters.  Outlaw  the  whisky  business,  and  legiti 
mate  trades  would  immediately  experience  the  great 
est  revival  in  their  history. 

"But  who  is  to  blame  for  this  state  of  affairs? 

"Least  guilty,  the  poor  drunkard,  whose  depraved 
appetite  drives  him  on  from  bad  to  worse,  against 
reason,  revelation  and  everything  that  is  good  and 
true. 

"Next  guilty,  the  saloonkeeper,  brewer  and  dis 
tiller,  who  are  all  in  it  for  the  money.  I'd  rather  be 
a  thief  than  a  dealer  in  liquors.  A  thief  steals  your 
watch,  but  he  cannot  harm  your  character,  nor  rob 
you  of  your  ability  to  earn  another  watch.  But  the 
liquor  dealer  beats  you  out  of  your  money,  be 
smirches  your  character,  chokes  the  life  out  of  am 
bition,  and  generally  damns  both  soul  and  body.  A 
highway  robber  is  a  gentleman  as  compared  with  a 
man  who  makes  or  sells  intoxicating  beverages.  The 
average  murderer  is  a  saint  as  compared  with  the 
fiend  who  deals  out  death  poison  over  the  bar  ef  a 
grog  shop,  and  slowly  but  surely  kills  his  hundreds 
of  victims. 


190  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

"Most  guilty,  the  voter  who  casts  his  ballot  for 
license!  I  care  not  how  pious  you  may  be,  and 
your  liberality  may  be  proverbial,  but  so  long  as  you 
pray,  'Thy  will  be  done/  and  vote  with  license  par 
ties  and  for  license  men,  Satan  will  have  the  cinch 
on  your  deluded  soul.  Crusades  may  be  all  right  in 
their  places;  but  I  have  little  confidence  in  them. 
Resolutions  to  Congress,  as  a  rule,  are  not  worth  the 
paper  on  which  they  are  written.  The  need  of  the 
hour  is  for  men  to  vote  as  they  pray.  Whisky  men 
care  more  for  one  adverse  ballot  than  for  a  thousand 
prayers  without  the  ballot.  Pray  right  and  vote 
right,  and  any  evil  can  be  controlled.  The  only  con 
sistent  ground  for  a  Christian  nation  to  take  is  pro 
hibition,  absolute,  imperative,  perpetual!  And  it  is 
a  question  of  life  or  death.  Nearly  all  the  great  na 
tions  of  antiquity  died  drunk.  Can  we  hope  to  es 
cape  their  fate  much  longer  under  existing  condi 
tions?  Right  is  right.  Saint  or  sinner,  Christian  or 
infidel,  the  man  who  loves  his  country  will  hence 
forth  vote  for  prohibition. 

3.— EQUAL  SUFFRAGE. 

"  'Consistency,  thou  art  a  jewel.'  We  whipped 
England  because  she  sought  to  enforce  taxation 
without  representation.  And  yet  for  a  century  we 
have  perpetuated  the  same  gross  wrong  in  debarring 
the  gentler  sex  from  the  rights  of  citizenship!  It  is 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  193 

certainty  one  of  the  marvels  of  this  enlightened  age 
and  nation  that  so  palpable  an  injustice  should  be 
tolerated  so  long. 

"But  men  say  that  woman  cannot  reason;  that 
she  has  no  business  ability;  and  that  politics  is  not 
her  sphere  anyhow,  and  therefore  she  should  not  be 
permitted  to  vote  and  hold  office.  This  is  a  slander 
on  history,  to  say  nothing  of  the  present.  When  has 
the  world  seen  greater  rulers  than  Marie  Stuart, 
Elizabeth  and  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots?  And  has  not 
Victoria  presided  acceptably  for  fifty-five  years  over 
the  greatest  monarchy  in  the  world?  Did  not  De 
borah  turn  the  captivity  of  Israel  into  freedom  and 
victory  when  there  was  not  a  man  among  the  tribes 
capable  of  leading  the  hosts?  Woman's  achieve 
ments  in  science,  literature  and  the  arts  is  sufficient 
argument  in  the  affirmative  on  the  question  as  to  her 
ability  to  reason.  But  even  if  she  be  considered 
man's  inferior  in  this  respect,  she  is  his  superior  in 
intuition.  Her  sympathies  are  nearly  always  on  the 
side  of  the  right.  It  was  a  woman  who  designed  the 
stars  and  stripes.  It  was  a  woman  who  wrote  'Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin,'  a  work  that  did  more  to  free  the  slaves 
than  all  the  speeches,  resolutions  and  legal  meas 
ures  of  a  century.  It  was  a  woman  who  first  dared 
to  banish  the  wine  cup  from  the  White  House.  And 
as  to  business  ability,  nine  men  out  of  ten  owe  their 
success  in  life  to  the  economy,  foresight  and  courage 
of  their  wives. 


194  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

•'A  few  years  ago  Senator  Ingalls  insisted  that 
woman  ought  not  to  have  the  ballot,  because  she 
couldn't  fight!  His  domestic  experience  has  been  a 
happy  one,  free  from  broken  broomsticks  and  dis 
heveled  hair,  and  he  is  therefore  to  be  forgiven  for 
so  reckless  an  assertion.  But  in  the  good  days  com 
ing,  when  women  will  be  as  strong  as  men,  there 
will  be  no  room  for  this  objection.  However,  there 
will  be  no  occasion  for  woman's  shouldering  a  mus 
ket  and  marching  out  to  war,  when  she  has  the  bal 
lot,  for  she  will  arbitrate.  And  that  is  better. 

"Mr.  Ingalls  says  that  equal  suffrage  is  coming, 
much  as  he  deplores  it.  He  fears  that  politics  will 
not  do  woman  any  good.  Perhaps  not;  but  woman 
will  do  politics  good!  Whatever  woman  has  touched 
in  the  march  of  the  centuries  she  has  purified.  It 
has  always  been  her  mission  to  clean  up  cobwrebs 
and  scrub.  Give  her  a  chance  in  the  halls  of  legis 
lation  and  some  ugly  laws  nowT  in  force  will  be  re 
moved  forever  from  the  statute  books  of  civilization. 
In  Delaware  and  South  Carolina,  for  instance,  the 
age  of  consent  is  ten.  In  Wyoming  and  Kansas, 
where  women  have  limited  rights  at  the  polls,  the 
age  of  consent  is  eighteen.  What  she  has  accom 
plished  under  cramped  privileges  in  these  states 
she  will  duplicate  with  abundant  interest  in  every 
state  when  she  has  an  equal  chance. 

"Equal  suffrage  is  coming.  It  is  in  the  air.  The 
best  men  of  all  parties  admit  it.  Abraham  Lincoln 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  195 

said,  'I  go  for  all  sharing  the  privileges  of  the  gov 
ernment  who  assist  in  bearing  its  burdens,  by  no 
means  excluding  women.'  Charles  Sumner  declared 
that  'In  the  progress  of  civilization  woman  suffrage 
is  sure  to  come.'  Why  not?  For,  as  William  H. 
Seward  said,  'Justice  is  on  the  side  of  woman  suf 
frage.'  Some  time  before  his  death  the  beloved 
Whittier  wrote,  'For  over  forty  years  I  have  not  hesi 
tated  to  declare  my  conviction  that  justice  and  fair 
dealing,  and  the  democratic  principles  of  our  gov 
ernment,  demand  equal  rights  and  privileges  of  cit 
izenship,  irrespective  of  sex.  I  have  not  been  able 
to  see  any  good  reasons  for  denying  the  ballot  to 
woman.'  In  this  he  accorded  perfectly  with  the 
great  Wendell  Phillips,  who  said,  'I  take  it  Arnerica 
never  gave  any  better  principle  to  the  world  .than 
the  safety  of  letting  every  human  being  have  the 
power  of  protection  in  its  own  hands.  I  claim  it  for 
woman.  The  moment  she  has  the  ballot,  I  sha41 
think  the  cause  is  won.' 

"Give  woman  the  ballot  and  the  sacred  interests  of 
her  home  and  family  will  impel  her  to  vote  right  on 
all  great  moral  questions.  The  party  that  gives  wom 
an  this  just  privilege  will  do  a  service  for  humanity 
not  excelled  in  the  annals  of  time.  If  we  hope  to  live 
as  a  nation  through  our  second  century  the  sooner 
we  discard  all  discrimination  of  sex,  in  religion,  bus 
iness  and  politics,  tHe  better. 


196  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

4.— THE  RACE  QUESTION 

Is  a  simple  one,  1  hough  broad  and  important.  It 
should  not  be  confined  to  the  negro.  Xor  yet  the 
Ohinaman.  America  is  the  natural  asylum  for  the 
depressed  and  oppressed  of  every  land.  So  long  ;is 
men  come  here  with  good  intentions,  so  long  should 
they  be  welcome,  irresjM'ctive  of  color,  religion  or 
social  position.  The  black  man  has  as  good  a  right  to 
America  as  the  white;  the  same  is  true  of  the  yellow 
man,  the  red  man  and  the  Asiatic.  But.  whoever 
asks  admission  at  our  gates,  East  or  West,  and  is 
unwilling  to  conform  to  our  habits,  learn  our  lan 
guage  and  become  naturalized  and  patriotic  Ameri 
can  citizens,  should  be  unceremoniously  dismissed. 
The  springing  up  of  immense  foreign  colonies  in  our 
midst,  where  our  language  is  despised,  our  Bible 
scoffed  at,  our  Hag  trailed  in  the  dust,  and  our  in 
stitutions  generally  demeaned,  is  a  menace  of  mighty 
magnitude.  No  party  should  be  so  anxious  for  votes 
as  to  wink  at  these  things.  Strict  immigration  laws 
should  be  enacted  and  enforced  to  the  letter.  'Amer 
ica  for  Americans'  should  be  the  watchword  of  all. 
"Oh,  let  us  have  done  with  playing  government! 
Vast  interests  are  at  stake.  We  are  making  history. 
The  welfare  of  millions  in  other  lands,  as  well  as 
our  own,  aye,  the  welfare  of  billions  yet  unborn, 
should  incite  us  to  action,  quick,  noble,  sure.  Im 
ploring  every  voter  to  do  his  duty  at  the  polls  next 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  197 

Tuesday,  1  would  conclude  with  the  gifted  Holland's 
grandest  sonnet : 

"  'Cod  give  us  men!     A  time  like  this  demands 

Strong  minds,  great  hearts,  true  faith,  and  ready  hands! 

Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  does  not  kill; 

Men  whom  the  spoils  of  office  cannot  buy; 

Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a  will; 

Men  who  have  honor — men  who  will  not  lie; 

Men  who  can  stand  before  a  demagogue 

And  scorn  his  treacherous  flatteries  without  winking. 

Tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog 

In  public  duty  and  private  thinking! 

For  while  the  rabble  with  their  thumb-worn  creeds, 

Their  loud  professions,  and  their  little  deeds, 

Mingle  in  selfish  strife,  lo!     Freedom  weeps, 

Wrong  rules  the  land,  and  trailing  justice  sleeps!'  " 

As  she  retired  an  avalanche  of  roses  was  hurled 
upon  the  platform,  and  thunders  of  applause  shook 
the  great  building.  Frequently  during  the  address 
the  brave  and  beautiful  speaker  had  been  inter 
rupted  with  rounds  of  applause.  But  now  it  was 
simply  deafening,  irresistible,  long-continued.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  no  such  a  scene  had  ever  been  en 
acted  in  that  auditorium.  Men  cheered  themselves 
hoarse  and  women  waved  their  handkerchiefs.  It 
was  like  a  mighty  cloudburst  of  enthusiasm,  in  which 
I  found  myself  as  deeply  immersed  as  the  rest. 

At  last  the  band  struck  up  "My  Country,  'Tis  of 
Thee,"  and  with  one  impulse  the  vast  audieno?  -irose 
arid  joined  in  that  soul-stirring  hymn.  It  was 


198  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

spontaneous  and  irregular,  but  the  effect  was  elec 
trical  and  far-reaching.  When  the  verses  had  been 
sung,  the  people  retired,  many  weeping  from  depth 
of  feeling  and  holy  emotions. 

I  crowded  my  way  toward  the  stage,  hoping  to 
meet  my  loved  one.  Whea  within  a  few  feet  of  a 
side  entrance  I  happened  to  glance  toward  one  of 
the  boxes,  when  whom  should  I  behold  but  Sidney 
Vincent  and  Banker  Brown.  They  were  evidently 
waiting  for  somebody.  My  heart  sunk  within  me, 
every  happy  resolution  was  subdued,  and,  without 
waiting  to  see  any  iiiorej  I  turned  and  luf  t  the  build 
ing. 


AMONG  THE  ROCKIES. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

AMONG  THE  ROCKIES. 

"Mountains  are  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  all  natural 
scenery."— RUSKIN. 

"Round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread; 

Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head." 

—GOLDSMITH. 

"See  the  mountains  kiss  high  heaven, 
And  the  waves  clasp  one  another." 

—SHELLEY. 

It  was  perhaps  foolish  in  *ne  to  leave  the  opera 
house  so  abruptly.  How  did  I  know  that  they  were 
engaged?  I  surmised  so,  but  perhaps  I  was  mis 
taken.  I  could  not  blame  Vincent  for  following  her 
about  and  seeing  as  much  of  her  as  possible.  And 
yet  I  wished  he  were  in  Guinea,  and  I  had  a  monop 
oly  of  the  attentions  of  Miss  Grace  Thome,  niy  study 
in  bloomers. 

Much  dejected  and  worn  with  the  long  ride  of  the 
previous  night  and  day,  I  threw  myself  into  bed  im 
mediately  upon  reaching  my  room.  And  as  I  was 
now  in  the  best  of  health,,  brown  as  a  berry  and  as 
strong  as  a  mule,  I  slept  at  once  and  soundly.  It 
was  late  when  I  arose  the  next  morning.  I  dressed 
leisurely  and  went  down  to  breakfast,  philosophiz 
ing  on  fate  and  kindred  subjects. 


204  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

"Here's  your  morning  paper,' sir!  All  about  the 
big  speech  by  the  woman  in  bloomers.  Paper?'' 

"Yes,  I'll  take  one.     Here,  boy!" 

And  I  read.  Column  after  column  (for  it  was  a 
long  and  carefully  prepared  report)  I  digested  with 
the  avidity  of  a  starving  Arab.  The  waiter  brought 
iny  order,  and  gently  called  my  attention  to  it  twice 
before  I  concluded.  And  (hen  so  keen  was  my  in 
terest  thai  all  relish  for  my  food  was  gone.  15ut  I 
went  through  the  motion,  mechanically  bolting  a 
good  supply  of  beefsteak  and  hot  rolls.  Then  I 
walked  into  the  office  and  inquired  for  a  time-card. 
When  I  arose  my  tirst  impulse  had  been  to  hunt  up 
the  frowns  and  Miss  Thome  and  spend  the  day 
with  them  in  viewing  the  sights  of  the  capital  city. 
But  the  paper  stated  that  they  had  all  left  shortly 
after  the  address  in  Mr.  Sidney  Vincent's  private 
car  for  a  short  tour  through  the  South.  So  I  de 
cided  to  see  Mount  Vernon,  and  perhaps  ascend 
Washington  Monument,  and  then  return  to  my  work. 

At  I  en  o'clock  I  caught  a  steamer  and  enjoyed  an 
hour's  ride  on  the  beautiful  Potomac.  Landing  at 
Mount  Vernon,  1  visited  the  tomb  of  our  nation's 
greatest  hero, 

"The  first,  the  last,  the  best, 
The  Cincinnatus  of  the  West." 

As  I  stood  within  a  few  feet  of  the  sarcophagus 

containing  his  bones  I  was  moved  as  never  before 
with  mingled  feelings  of  patriotism,  gratitude  and 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  205 

hope.  Visiting  the  old  home  of  the  General,  whom 
Napoleon  declared  to  be  the  greatest  warrior  of  his 
age,  I  went  reverently  from  one  room  to  another, 
reading  all  the  inscriptions  and  examining  all  the 
relics  with  a  minuteness  and  pleasure  I  had  never 
experienced  in  a  similar  study.  Mount  Vernou  is  the 
Mecca  of  Americans,  and  thanks  to  the  women 
of  the  land,  the  sacred  property  is  in  a  good  state 
of  preservation. 

So  deeply  impressed  was  I  with  a  tribute  from  the 
pen  of  Dr.  Andrew  Reed  of  England,  which  was  ex 
posed  in  one  of  the  rooms,  that  I  copied  it,  and  can 
not  forbear  reproducing  it  here: 

WASHINGTON, 
The  brave — the  wise — the  good ; 

WASHINGTON, 
Supreme  in  war,  in  counsel,  and  in  peace; 

WASHINGTON, 
Valiant,  without  ambition; 
Discreet,  without  fear; 
Confident,  without  presumption. 

WASHINGTON, 

In  disaster,  calm;    in  success,  moderate; 
In  all  himself. 

WASHINGTON, 

The  hero;    the  patriot,  the  Christian; 
The  father  of  nations,  the  friend  of  mankind, 

WHO, 

When  he  had  won  all,  renounced  all,  and  sought 
in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  and  of  nature, 
retirement,  and  in  the  hope  of  religion, 
immortality. 


206  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

The  following  day  I  departed  for  Chicago.  Many 
dear  friends,  tried  and  true,  met  me  at  the  depot, 
and  the  following  Sunday  I  preached  to  the  largest 
audiences  in  the  history  of  my  pastorate.  Every 
thing  had  gone  well  in  my  absence,  my  assistant 
having  proven  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  Even 
the  old  sexton  was  contented,  and  once  more  I  en 
tered  into  the  details  of  my  exacting  profession  with 
a  zest  of  which  I  had  imagined  myself  incapable. 

The  second  Sunday  I  was  surprised,  upon  enter 
ing  my  pulpit,  to  see  the  Browns  once  again  in  their 
accustomed  pew,  and  with  them  Grace  Thome!  At 
the  close  of  the  service  none  were  more  cordial  in 
their  greetings  than  these  dear  friends. 

"Why,  Doctor,  how  stout  you  are!  And  how  well 
you  look!"  exclaimed  Miss  Thorne. 

"The  very  picture  of  health,"  echoed  Mrs.  Brown. 

"Shooting  must  agree  with  you,"  said  the  banker. 
"You  must  come  over  to  dinner  to-morrow  and  tell 
us  all  about  it." 

I  agreed,  and  faithfully  kept  my  promise.  I  gave 
a  full  account  of  my  wanderings,  and  then  after 
dinner  insisted  upon  a  similar  service  on  the  part  of 
my  study.  The  banker  and  his  good  wife  begged  to 
be  excused,  stating  that  when  inviting  me  to  spend 
the  evening  with  them  they  had  forgotten  a  promise 
already  made  to  attend  an  anniversary  celebration 
in  a  distant  part  of  the  city. 

"But  perhaps  Miss  Grace  can  entertain  you  just 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  207 

as  well  as  if  we  were  present,"  said  Mr.  Brown,  with 
a  wink  at  his  companion. 

"I  will  do  my  best,"  replied  Miss  Thome,  inno 
cently. 

"And  when  she  does  her  best  at  anything  she  al 
ways  succeeds,"  said  Mrs.  Brown. 

I  fear  the  color  rose  to  the  very  roots  of  my  hair. 
Certainly  this  was  a  pleasure  unexpected.  Now  if 
Sidney  Vincent  don't  come  poking  his  unwelcome 
head  in,  thought  I,  ungenerously. 

He  didn't  come,  and  for  three  hours  we  had  the 
house  all  to  ourselves.  Blessed  hours! 

Miss  Thorue  was,  contrary  to  the  usual  rule,  as 
good  a  conversationalist  as  she  was  public  speaker. 
Drawing  her  rocker  close  to  the  easy  chair  I  was 
occupying,  she  looked  me  pleasantly  in  the  face  and 
began : 

"Now  you  wish  me  to  tell  you  about  the  Rockies, 
do  you?  Grand  old  mountains!  It  was  one  of  the 
most  delightful  trips  of  my  life.  Mr.  Vincent  has 
been  very  kind  to  me.  liis  private  car  is  a  palace 
on  wheels,  provided  with  every  luxury,  and  he  has 
been  generous  enough  to  extend  me  several  invita 
tions,  together  with  my  relatives  and  friends,  to  ac 
company  him  on  various  jaunts  through  our  beauti 
ful  country. 

"We  left  for  the  West  September  first,  and  were 
absent  just  a  month.  We  went  out  by  the  northern 
route,  taking  in  the  Red  River  country  and  the  great 


208  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

grazing  districts  of  Montana.  Diverging  to  the 
south,  we  spent  several  days  in  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park,  that  wonderland  of  creation.  Then 
continuing,  we  visited  the  thriving  cities  of  Helena, 
Spokane  Falls,  Seattle  and  Tacoma.  A  ride  on  glor 
ious  Puget  Sound  was  a  pleasure  that  will  linger  in 
memory  as  long  as  I  live.  At  Portland  we  stopped 
two  days.  We  took  a  steamer  and  ran  up  the  Co 
lumbia  as  far  as  The  Dalles.  On  the  left  as  we  as 
cended  was  the  great  state  of  Washington,  which 
contains  more  iron  than  Pennsylvania,  more  forests 
than  Maine,  and  greater  agricultural  resources  than 
Illinois.  Mount  Kanier,  Mount  Hood  and  other  lofty 
peaks  showed  their  snowy  heads,  while  on  the  right 
Mount  Shasta  and  the  rugged  gorges  of  the  Cascade 
range  attracted  the  eye.  I  was  deeply  interested  in 
the  fish  wheels,  which,  revolving  by  the  force  of  the 
current,  scooped  up  vast  quantities  of  salmon,  with 
which  the  tables  of  the  East  are  supplied — the  fin 
est  tisli  in  the  world.  Portland  is  perhaps  tin- 
wealthiest  city  of  its  population  in  America,  but  not 
so  pretty  to  my  mind  as  some  others.  1  spoke  to  the 
ladies  of  the  city  one  night  on  my  hobby,  dress  re 
form.  The  papers  were  kind  enough  to  compliment 
the  meeting  and  the  address.  However,  Doctor,  1 
am  not  sure  that  this  means  much.  For  just  as  oft^n 
the  dailies  of  the  country  are  on  the  wrong  side  of  a 
question  as  the  right,  and  their  antagonism  is  frc- 
(jiientlymore  of  a  compliment  than  their  commenda 
tion. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  209 

"Leaving  Portland,  we  passed  up  the  beautiful 
Willamette  Valley,  dotted  here  and  there  with 
happy  little  towns,  between  which  lay  some  of  the 
prettiest,  farms  in  the  world.  Also  the  Rogue  River 
and  Sacramento  valleys  are  dreams  of  rural  loveli 
ness.  And  for  splendid  feats  of  engineering,  the 
road  across  the  Siskiyou  range  presented  some  sam 
ples  hard  to  excel. 

"We  spent  four  days  at  San  Francisco,  metropolis 
of  the  Wesl.  We  usually  think  of  this  city  as  the 
jumpingoff  place,  and  yet  so  vast  in  area  is  the 
Uniicd  States  that  if  we  count  in  Alaska,  San  Fran 
cisco  in  just  half  Avay  across  from  New  York!" 

All  of  which  I  knew  quite  as  well  as  she,  but  so 
charmed  was  I  with  her  easy,  running  chat  that  I 
saw  it  in  a  new  and  better  light  than  ever  before.  I 
had  not  spoken  till  now,  when,  feeling  that  I  ought 
to  say  something,  I  meekly  inquired: 

"Did  you  visit  Chinatown?" 

"Indeed  we  did,  a  large  party  of  us,  under  the  di 
rection  of  an  experienced  guide  and  two  policemen. 
We  spent  several  hours  exploring  the  dives  and  dens 
of  this  horrible  locality,  the  like  of  which  is  nowhere 
else  to  be  seen,  I  suppose,  under  the  folds  of  the 
American  flag.  To  think  of  45,000  people  huddled  to 
gether  in  the  space  of  a  few  blocks,  living  like  vermin! 
What  with  gambling,  opium  smoking  and  other  evil 
habits  contracted  from  so-called  Christian  nations, 
together  with  his  natural  propensities  to  vice,  the 


210  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

poor  Chinaman  seems  well  nigh  doomed  both  for  this 
world  and  the  world  to  come.  And  yet  a  strict  en 
forcement  of  the  excellent  laws  already  existing 
would  do  much  toward  removing  the  unpleasant 
features  of  Chinese  immigration. 

"We  visited  the  Presidio  Military  Reservation  one 
morning  and  witnessed  a  grand,  full  dress  parade. 
Here  Uncle  Sam's  soldiers  appear  at  their  best,  you 
know.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  posts  in  the  country, 
and  the  fort  is  one  of  the  strongest  in  the  world.  The 
hills  about  the  Golden  Gate  are  literally  lined  with 
mighty  guns,  and  I  do  not  believe  all  the  navies  in 
the  world  combined  could  run  the  gauntlet  of  our 
splendid  defenses  at  the  entrance  of  San  Francisco 
Bay,  which  is  the  pride  of  our  Western  coast,  and 
undoubtedly  the  finest  harbor  in  the  world. 

"The  parade  was  beautiful  and  exciting.  The 
perfect  marching  of  the  infantry,  the  methodical 
movement  of  the  artillery,  the  rhythmic  action  of  the 
cavalry  and  the  stirring  music  of  the  regimental 
band  electrified  me,  and  for  a  moment  I  could  not 
restrain  my  tears.  But  when  I  thought  of  the  awful 
meaning  of  real  war  I  said:  Ah!  what  a  mistake  isall 
this.  It  seems  a  sin  to  spend  millions  in  the  support 
of  an  army  and  navy,  when  tens  of  thousands  of  our 
fellow-citizens  are  begging  for  honest  work  and 
bread.  Of  course,  we  have  a  small  army  as  com 
pared  with  those  of  European  nations.  But  what  of 
it?  War  has  become  almost  an  impossibility,  so  de- 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  211 

structive  have  become  its  munitions.  How  much  bet 
ter  for  a  burdened  humanity  if  the  nations  of  the 
earth  would  lay  down  their  arms  and  arbitrate  all 
disagreements.  What  right  have  I  to  kill  uiy  brother 
just  because  he  refuses  to  agree  with  me?  Might 
never  made  right,  but  the  world  has  been  slow  to 
think  so. 

"Yes,  we  visited  Golden  Gate  Park,  Sutro's  Gar 
dens  and  Bath  House,  and  the  new  Cliff  House, 
where  we  watched  the  seals  for  an  hour  or  more.  It 
was  a  charming  sight  to  see  the  big  fellows  sunning 
themselves  on  the  huge  rocks,  while  the  waves  of  the 
mighty  ocean  played  about  them. 

"Leaving  San  Francisco  we  traveled  south  through 
the  far  famed  San  Joaquin  Valley,  and,  reaching  Los 
Angeles,  tarried  a  day  or  two  before  running  on  to 
San  Diego  and  the  Mexican  Line.  The  'Cit}'  of  the 
Angels'  is  well  named.  To  my  mind  it  is  one  of  the 
prettiest,  as  it  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  prosper 
ous,  cities  on  the  continent.  I  like  Southern  Cali 
fornia.  It  is  our  Italy.  Its  blue  skies,  equable  cli 
mate,  luxurious  fruits,  beautiful  flowers  and  pro 
gressive  people  combine  in  making  it  one  of  the  most 
highly  favored  spots  in  the  Western  hemisphere. 
Southern  California  is  the  flower  garden  of  the 
world.  To  see  calla  lilies  blooming  out  doors  the 
year  round;  to  revel  in  the  fragrance  of  orange  blos 
soms  perpetually,  while  enjoying  the  fruit;  to  dwell 
in  a  pretty  upland  home  where  frost  and  fog  are  un- 


212  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

known,  and  where  the  wild  flowers  wreathe  the  hills 
with  a  prodigality  possible  only  to  nature  when  in 
her  happiest  mood,  are  some  of  the  privileges  of  this 
fairyland,  which,  however,  is  too  far  from  the  hub  of 
civilization  to  suit  one  of  my  temperament  if  I  were 
seeking  a  permanent  home.  , 

"It  is  a  great  country  for  alfalfa,  a  sort  of  hay 
which  grows  six  or  eight  crops  a  year  if  the  ground 
is  well  irrigated.  Speaking  of  this,  reminds  me  of  a 
story  I  heard  on  a  tall,  lank,  lantern-jawed  Missour- 
ian,  who  was  visiting  California  for  the  first  time, 
and  had  not  yet  become  familiar  with  the  state's  vo 
cabulary.  Sitting  with  a  party  of  men  in  a  hotel 
lobby  one  evening,  he  was  expressing  his  dislike  for 
the  country  in  many  uncomplimentary  terms,  and 
\vound  up  by  remarking,  'No,  gentlemen,  Californy 
isn't  in  it  with  old  Missoury.  Why,  they  can't  raise 
anything  out  here  but  alpaca,  and  they  have  to  irri 
tate  that!'  A  year  in  one  of  the  excellent  public 
schools  of  this  wonderful  state  would  doubtless  im 
prove  his  knowledge  in  several  particulars. 

"Doubling  back  a  few  hundred  miles,  we  visited 
the  wonderful  Yosemite  Valley  and  the  Mariposa 
big  trees.  Somebody,  a  globe-trotter,  once  said,  'See 
all  the  rest  of  the  world  before  visiting  Yosemite, 
for  afterward  everything  else  will  seem  tame  in  com 
parison.'  You  have  been  there,  have  you  not,  Doc 
tor?" 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply.  "I  spent  a  week  there  three 
summers  ago." 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  213 

"Then  you  will  readily  excuse  me  from  attempting 
to  describe  this  really  indescribable  place.  When  I 
saw  the  Mulinomah  Falls  in  Oregon,  850  feet  high, 
I  was  speechless  in  admiration.  But  Multnomah  is 
but  a  rivulet,  a  mere  child's  plaything,  as  compared 
with  Yosemite,  which  seems  to  start  in  the  clouds, 
2,000  feet  above. 

"Leaving  California,  we  plunged  across  the  desert, 
a  long,  tedious  ride.  When  at  last  we  reached  Salt 
Lake  City,  it  was  like  coming  out  of  a  nightmare 
into  the  sunshine  and  sparkling  dews  of  a  June 
morning.  We  spent  a  day  in  the  Mormon  capital, 
visiting  the  great  tabernacle  and  other  places  of  in 
terest.  Running  out  to  (Jarfield  Beach  in  the  after 
noon,  we  all  went  bathing.  It  was  rare  sport,  and  no 
danger  of  drowning  in  this  great  inland  sea,  which 
is  phenomenal  in  that  it  is  almost  one-fourth  salt. 
However,  salt  or  no  salt,  sister  and  I  are  both  good 
swimmers,  an  exercise  which  I  have  greatly  enjoyed 
for  years  as  I  have  had  opportunity.  That's  another 
of  my  new- woman  ideas,  Doctor;  I  think  every  lady 
should  learn  to  swim.  It  is  not  only  a  healthful  and 
exhilarating  sport,  but  might  sometimes  prove  a  use 
ful  accomplishment." 

"Agreed,"  said  I.    "Go  on." 

"I  was  glad  to  note  that  Gentile  enterprise  is  at 
last  dominating  Utah,  and  that  Morrnonism  promises 
to  be  a  mere  relic  of  the  foolish  past  at  no  very  dis 
tant  day.  How  tolerant  are  the  good  people  of  our 


214  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

• 

land!  They  will  lot  anybody  practice  anything  if 
they  will  only  declare  it  to  be  their  religion.  This 
is  not  liberty,  but  license,  and  it  is  high  time  our 
statesmen  were  opening  their  eyes  to  some  other 
evils  as  bad  as  polygamy. 

"From  Salt  Lake  City  we  proceeded  into  the  Rock 
ies  proper.  Up  the  (Jrand  River,  over  Tennessee 
Pass  and  down  the  Arkansas  we  flew,  drinking  in 
the  glorious  scenery  on  every  hand.  We  stopped  an 
hour  at  the  Royal  Gorge,  and  in  awe  studied  the  lofty 
walls  above  us  and  the  angry  current  beneath.  Of 
course,  wre  visited  Manitou  and  the  Garden  of  the 
Gods.  Yes,  and  climbed  Pike's  Peak,  that  stalwart 
captain  of  them  all.  We  entered  the  grand  cavern 
and  speculated  on  the  age  of  stalagmites  and  stalac 
tites  like  real  scientists.  We  climbed,  and  climbed, 
and  climbed,  till  each  gained  an  appetite  sufficiently 
ravenous  to  please  the  most  ambitious  health-seeker. 
It  was  a  glorious  trip  from  first  to  last,  and  now,  lest 
I  weary  you,  I  will  conclude  by  saying  that  we  spent 
a  day  in  Denver,  the  'Queen  City  of  the  Plains,'  and 
then  sped  homeward,  crossing  the  much-abused 
state  of  Kansas,  where  there  is  more  of  the  true,  in 
telligent,  patriotic  reform  spirit  that  you  know  I  so 
much  admire  than  in  any  other  state  of  the  Union." 

"I  have  been  delighted  with  your  narrative,"  said 
I,  "and  you  are  certainly  to  be  congratulated,  not 
only  for  the  opportunities  afforded  you  by  this  trip, 
but  for  the  excellent  manner  in  which  you  improved 
the  same." 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  215 

We  chatted  on  about  other  things  for  awhile,  until 
[  began  to  grow  nervous.  Not  one  word  could  I  in 
duce  her  to  speak  of  Vincent  by  any  of  the  subtle 
arts  of  conversation.  I  was  almost  dying  to  know 
whether  they  were  engaged,  and  yet  I  did  not  dare 
ask  her.  Somehow  I  doubted  it,  and  yet  I  was  mor 
ally  certain  that  this  had  been  the  railroad  mag 
nate's  purpose  in  planning  the  trip. 

"How  well  you  look,  Doctor!"  said  she,  abruptly 
changing  the  tide  of  conversation.  "It  does  me  good 
to  note  your  improvement." 

"Yes,"  I  replied,  feeling  somewhat  flattered,  and  yet 
I  knew  that  she  was  sincere.  "I  am  as  firm  a  bicycle 
fiend  as  you  dare  be  now.  And  as  to  Indian  clubs, 
rowing,  putting  the  shot  and  all  the  other  arts  of 
working  up  muscle,  color  and  appetite,  I  am  almost 
a  Sandow." 

"Good!"  said  the  dear  girl,  clapping  her  hands  in 
unfeigned  delight.  "Speaking  of  Sandow,  I've  been 
told  that  he  was  once  a  weak  man,  inclined  to  con 
sumption.  But  attention  to  the  laws  of  health  and 
perpetual  exercise,  has  made  him  one  of  the  strong 
est  men  of  the  age.  Do  you  know,  people  would  be 
better  off  if  instead  of  running  to  the  doctor  with 
every  little  ill  they  would  eat  proper  food,  take 
proper  exercise  and  bathe  much  in  the  pure  oxygen 
of  heaven's  great  outdoors.  And  we  are  advancing. 
More  attention  is  being  paid  to  these  matters  now 
than  ever  before.  Already  the  average  age  of  human 


216  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

life  has  increased  three  years  the  past  ten.  Another 
century  of  progress  and  it  will  be  very  common  for 
people  to  live  one  hundred  years  and  more." 

Still  nothing  about  Vincent.  Oh,  why  did  she  not 
say  something  that  would  reveal  the  facts  in  the 
case?  If  I  could  only  be  assured  that  there  was 
nothing  between  them  I  would  propose  at  once, 
whether  for  weal  or  woe.  But  I  hesitated. 

She  was  attired  in  a  suit  of  brown — brown  bloom 
ers,  brown  waist,  brown  hose  and  pretty  little  slip 
pers  tied  with  brown  ribbon.  She  wore  a  bunch  of 
forget-me-nots  at  her  breast.  All  this  I  had  observed 
a  hundred  times  during  the  evening,  and  each  time 
with  increasing  admiration.  With  my  added  strength 
had  come  greater  love  for  this  woman  of  all  women 
to  me,  and  I  longed  to  fold  her  to  my  bosom  and 
speak  words  of  ardent  love  into  those  pretty  ears 
which  nestled,  half  hidden,  beneath  the  rich  folds 
of  her  beautiful  hair.  But  I  hesitated,  thinking  that 
that  might  be  a  privilege  which  belonged  by  right 
of  conquest  to  a  bolder  man  than  I  had  been. 

Glancing  at  my  watch,  I  saw  that  it  was  almost 
time  for  the  Browns  to  return,  and  remarked  that  I 
must  be  going.  We  chatted  a  few  minutes  longer 
and  then  I  started.  She  accompanied  me  into  the 
hall,  where  we  lingered  another  ten  minutes.  As  I 
looked  down  into  those  wondrous  eyes  I  thought  I 
detected  my  own  image  there,  not  as  when  one  looks 
into  a  mirror,  but  as  when  you  look  into  the  soul  of 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  217 

one  whose  heart  beats  in  unison  with  your  own.  For 
a  moment  I  was  spell-bound.  It  seemed  now  that  my 
fond  hopes  must  be  fulfilled,  and  that  I  must  clasp 
her  to  my  heart,  smother  her  sweet  face  with  kisses 
and  call  her  my  own.  But  Vincent's  ghost  came  to 
mind.  What  if  she  had  already  promised  him?  Then 
what  a  fool  I  would  be! 

"Oh,  I  came  nearty  forgetting  to  ask  you  how  long 
you  intend  tarrying  in  the  city  this  time?''  said  T. 
feeling  that  I  should  smother  if  I  didn't  say  some 
thing. 

"Only  a  day  or  two." 

"Indeed!  I'm  sorry.  I  had  hoped  to  see  more  of 
you." 

"Then  accept  my  most  cordial  invitation  to  spend 
the  holidays  at  our  home,"  said  she.  "You  will  need 
a  little  rest  again  by  that  time,  and  we  will  all  be  de 
lighted  to  have  your  company  through  the  gala  week 
of  the  year." 

"I  will  come,"  I  said,  surprised,  flattered,  filled 
with  a  new  hope. 

I  took  her  soft,  warm  hand  in  mine,  and  she  was 
not  quick  to  withdraw  it.  Certainly  she  thinks  more 
of  me  than  of  him,  I  thought.  And  yet,  perhaps,  this 
is  one  of  her  little  arts  to  deceive — they  may  be  en 
gaged  after  all. 

"Good  night,  and  good-bye  till  Christmas." 


DISAPPOINTMENT. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DISAPPOINTMENT. 

"The  best-laid  schemes  o'  mice  and  men, 

Gang  aft  a-gley, 
And  leave  us  nought  but  grief  and  pain, 

For  promised  joy." 

—BURNS. 

It  was  Thanksgiving  evening.  Grace  Thorne  and 
Sidney  Vincent  were  seated  in  the  library  in  the  lat- 
ter's  home  at  Smithville.  Vincent  had  arrived  from 
Chicago  the  day  before,  and  side  tracked  his  private 
car  for  three  days'  stop  at  the  little  Wisconsin  town 
where  lived  the  lady  he  loved  above  all  others.  He 
had  been  remarkably  successful  in  his  business 
deals  for  several  months  past  and  was  now  quoted 
among  the  millionaires  in  railroad  circles.  And  still 
he  was  unmarried.  He  felt  that  the  time  had  fully 
come  for  him  to  select  a  companion  and  establish  a 
fashionable  home.  So  calling  his  chief  clerk  into 
his  private  office,  he  quickly  arranged  matters  for  a 
short  vacation,  and  then  scribbled  the  following  tel 
egram  : 

Chicago,  Nov.  27,  1896. 

Miss  Grace  Thorne,  Smithville,  Wis. 

Your  gracious  invitation  to  spend  Thanksgiving 
accepted.  Will  come  to-morrow. 

SIDNEY  VINCENT. 


222  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

There  was  no  special  excitement  at  the  Thome 
residence  over  the  expected  guest,  for  they  were  hos 
pitable  people,  and  were  always  extending  invita 
tions  to  their  friends,  and  among  all  their  acquaint 
ances  none  seemed  more  deserving  of  the  favors  of 
the  season  than  Sidney  Vincent,  whose  close  atten 
tions  and  innumerable  kindnesses  for  six  months 
past  had  made  the  whole  family  his  debtors. 

The  forenoon  after  his  arrival  was  a  pleasant  one. 
The  sun  shone  brightly,  and,  in  company  with  Miss 
Grace  and  her  sister,  the  railroad  magnate  took  a 
long  drive.  At  two  o'clock  dinner  was  ready.  Henry 
Thorne,  with  his  wife  and  babies,  had  run  up  from 
St.  Louis  to  eat  turkey  and  pumpkin  pie  once  again 
at  the  old  home.  Other  relatives  were  present,  and 
one  or  two  of  Josephine's  school  friends.  It  was  a 
pleasant  party,  not  too  large,  not  too  small,  and 
everybody  in  the  best  of  humor,  as  they  should  be  on 
this  blessed  day. 

After  dinner  came  music,  conversation,  laughter 
and  an  all-round  good  time.  During  the  afternoon 
the  mercury  had  fallen  twenty  degrees  and  the  wind 
soughed  and  moaned  among  the  trees  in  a  way  to 
suggest  most  forcibly  the  advisability  of  staying  in 
doors.  The  guests  departed  early,  fearing  a  severe 
blizzard,  and  the  man  kindled  crackling  fires  in  the 
grates.  Vincent  and  Miss  Grace  finally  pre-empted 
the  library,  and,  drawing  chairs  close  to  the  fire,  sat 
down  for  a  quiet,  uninterrupted  chat. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  223 

"Miss  Grace,"  began  Vincent,  with  that  keen  busi 
ness  look  in  his  steel-grey  eyes  which  had  so  often 
pierced  the  motives  of  his  associates  on  'change  to 
his  advantage,  "I  have  desired  for  a  long  time  to 
speak  with  you  on  a  subject  that  will  concern  you,  I 
hope,  as  deeply  as  it  does  myself." 

He  stopped  a  moment  to  note  the  effect  these 
words  might  produce.  But  the  face  of  the  lady  re 
mained  unchanged.  She  met  his  glance  squarely  and 
innocently,  as  she  calmly  said: 

"Proceed,  Mr.  Vincent.  You  are  well  aware  of  my 
weakness  for  talk.  It  is  a  common  failing  with  my 
sex.  Science  has  recently  declared  that  this  failing, 
if  it  must  be  called  such,  is  owing  to  a  difference  in 
the  brain  tissues  of  man  and  woman.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  I  am  ready  to  hear  what  you  have  to  say,  with 
interest  and  pleasure,  I  trust." 

"I  had  thought  to  speak  to  you  during  our  West 
ern  trip,"  he  continued,  in  the  same  tone  as  before 
her  philosophic  reply,  "but  there  were  so  many  in  the 
party,  and  our  time  so  constantly  occupied  with 
sight-seeing  when  we  were  not  at  rest,  that  I  had  no 
good  opportunit}7.  Miss  Thome — Grace — since  our 
first  meeting  in  the  city  several  months  ago  I  have 
been  infatuated  with  you  and  have  long  been  wait 
ing  anxiously  for  the  moment  when  I  could  declare 
my  love.  At  last  the  moment  has  come,  and  I  now 
offer  you  my  all  Grace — darling — will  you  be  my 
wife?" 


224  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

He  had  arisen  from  bis  chair  and  knelt  politely  on 
one  knee  just  beside  her,  and  now  held  out  his  fat, 
jeweled  hands  imploringly.  She  did  not  scream,  nor 
faint,  but  with  slightly  heightened  color,  which  the 
keen-eyed  Vincent  thought  greatly  enhanced  the 
beauty  of  her  snowy  neck  and  luscious  cheeks,  she 
quietly  replied: 

"Mr.  Vincent,  I  trust  you  will  not  think  me  un 
grateful,  for  I  sincerely  appreciate  your  every  kind 
ness  and  respect  you  as  one  of  my  dearest  friends, 
but  I  cannot  accept  your  gracious  offer." 

Non-plussed,  astonished,  dazed,  the  rich,  confident, 
imperious  man  almost  lost  his  self-control.  Scores 
of  anxious  mothers  in  the  swellest  of  swell  circles  in 
various  cities  had  set  their  traps  for  him  again  and 
again,  but  all  to  no  avail,  for  the  present  daughter 
was  the  only  one  he  had  ever  seen  for  whom  he  cared 
enough  to  bow  the  knee.  And  now  to  think  she  re 
fused!  It  was  indeed  stunning.  But  in  a  moment 
he  regained  his  staggered  composure  and  was  as 
cool  as  if  manipulating  a  gigantic  deal  in  the  inter 
ests  of  his  corporation. 

"Oh,  Miss  Thorne — Grace — dearest  one — you  do 
not  refuse  me!  It  cannot  be  possible  that  I  have 
read  your  .heart  wrongly  as  I  have  time  and  again 
studied  the  expression  of  those  charming  eyes?  Why 
can  you  not  accept  my  offer,  sweet  lady?  Is  it  be 
cause  you  do  not  love  me?" 

"That  is  the  only  reason  a  true  woman  dare  sug- 


HE  HAD  RISEN  FROM  HIS  CHAIR,  AND  KNELT 
POLITELY  ON  ONE  KNEE,  JUST  BESIDE  HER,  AND 
NOW  HELD  OUT  HIS  FAT  JEWELED  HANDS  IM- 
PLIRINGLY.— Page  224. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  227 

gest  under  such  circumstances,  Mr.  Vincent,"  was 
the  earnest  reply. 

"But  why  do  you  not  love  me?"  he  asked,  almost 
petulantly. 

"Take  your  seat  again,  Mr.  Vincent,  and  I  will  tell 
you,"  she  said. 

Mortally  chagrined,  the  haughty  wooer  seated  him 
self  again  and  remained  at  a  respectable  distance 
from  the  object  of  his  affections,  while  she  began 
calmly  to  analyze  him  to  himself  with  a  gentleness 
and  directness  most  humiliating. 

"In  the  first  place,  Mr.  Vincent — and  you  will  par 
don  me  for  speaking  plainly,  for  I  ana  your  friend — 
because  you  are  an  infidel.  While  I  do  not  pose  as  a 
saint,  and  know  that  my  life  is  far  from  perfect,  I  am 
a  believer  in  God  and  the  Bible.  I  think  Christ  of 
Nazareth  the  world's  only  hope,  and  could  never  be 
happy  with  a  husband  who  thought  otherwise.  These 
are  great  fundamental  truths,  and  I  feel  that  I 
would  be  risking  my  happiness  here  and  my  soul 
hereafter  if  I  should  accept  your  hand,  knowing  as 
I  well  know  from  your  oft  declared  unbelief,  that  you 
have  been  a  scoffer  at  all  these  things  I  hold  sacred, 
for  the  greater  part  of  your  life." 

"But,  my  dear  Miss  Thome,  I  will  gladly  agree  to 
hold  my  tongue  forever  on  all  these  questions,  and 
promise  you  upon  my  word  and  honor  that  your  re 
ligious  convictions  shall  never  be  impugned  by  me. 
Only  be  my  wife,  dearest  Grace,  and  I  will  make  you 


228  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

happy,  if  granting  your  every  request  will  do  it. 
But  I  confess  that  I  do  not  believe  in  religion,  and 
will  not  deceive  you  by  promising  that  I  will  try  to 
do  so." 

"Why  do  you  not  believe?"  inquired  the  now  fully 
aroused  young  lady.  Her  natural  love  for  argument 
and  investigation  asserted  itself,  and,  anyhow,  she 
much  preferred  a  battle  with  logic  just  now  to  a 
battle  with  disappointed  love. 

"Because  I  cannot,"  said  Vincent. 

"But  that  is  an  unsatisfactory  answer,  Mr.  Vin 
cent.  Perhaps  you  have  never  tried.  It  is  quite  pop 
ular  in  certain  circles  nowadaj's  to  doubt,  and  I  am 
positive  that  many  persons  are  trying  infinitely 
harder  not  to  believe  than  they  are  to  believe.  It  is 
a  dangerous  fad  which  has  bred  a  vast  litter  of 
skeptical  books,  insipid  addressess  and  free-and-easy 
society  organizations.  I  surmise  that  it  is  a  recoil 
from  the  ultra-orthodoxy  of  past  generations;  but 
because  our  ancestors  were  unwise  in  their  adher 
ence  to  certain  inconsistent  tenets  it  is  no  reason  we 
should  swing  to  an  extreme  of  unfaith  ten  times 
more  so.  Christianity  has  met  every  test  success 
fully  for  nearly  two  thousand  years,  and  its  own 
history  is  a  vindication  of  its  genuineness." 

"How  about  the  Dark  Ages,  Miss  Thorne?  Would 
you  undertake  to  defend  the  horrors  of  the  Inquisi 
tion,  and  the  martyrdoms  of  a  thousand  years  of 
church  rule?" 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  229 

"By  no  means.  Every  good  thing  is  counterfeited, 
and  the  crimes  enacted  by  a  corrupt  church  should 
not  be  attributed  to  the  religion  of  Jesus.  Church- 
ianity  and  not  Christianity  is  to  blame  for  the  blood 
of  martyrs.  The  great  trouble  is  that  many  do  not 
wish  to  endorse  the  lofty  principles  of  Xew  Testa 
ment  religion,  for  it  would  hurt  their  business.  And 
so  they  read  the  depraved  ranting  of  foul-mouthed 
agnosticism  with  a  relish,  thereby  steeling  their 
hearts  against  the  gentle  pleadings  of  the  gospel. 
Nine  professed  infidels  out  of  ten  are  woefully  unfa 
miliar  writh  the  Bible;  and  as  to  standard  works  on 
Christian  evidence,  they  do  not  care  to  know  they 
exist." 

"Oh,  of  course  some  kind  of  a  religion  is  perhaps 
necessary,"  interjected  Vincent,  who  w'as  only  too 
weary  of  the  discussion;  "but  why  not  that  of 
Buddha,  or  Confucius,  Mohammed,  or  Zoroaster? 
Why  insist  on  the  Bible  in  preference  to  the  Talmud 
or  the  Koran?  So  far  as  1  have  been  able  to  see 
there  is  about  as  much  truth  in  one  as  another." 

"But  the  facts  are  against  you,  Mr.  Vincent.  The 
history  of  true  civilization  is  the  history  of  Chris 
tianity.  All  religions  contain  truth,  some  more,  some 
less;  but  the  Christian  scriptures  are  the  essence  of 
all  truth,  for  they  reveal  what  no  other  sacred  work 
does — man's  real  relationship  to  an  Omnipotent, 
All-Wise  and  All-loving  Being.  Professor  Lowber, 
in  his  great  work  entitled  'Cultura/  says;  'It  is  a 


230  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

fact  that  idolatrous  nations  have  never  been  able  to 
extricate  themselves  from  idolatry.  Truth  had  to  be 
presented  from  without,  and  that  truth  was  the  gos 
pel  of  Christ  as  contained  in  the  Bible.  You  find  no 
nation  highly  civilized  which  does  not  believe  in  the 
Bible.  The  Bible  and  civilization  go  together.  Man 
is  so  constituted  that  he  will  worship,  and  he  be 
comes  assimilated  to  the  character  of  that  which  he 
worships.' " 

"But,  Miss  Grace,"  urged  Vincent,  "brilliant  minds 
differ  on  these  things.  So  why  should  you  and  I 
give  ourselves  such  earnest  concern  about  them  until 
they  are  setlled?'' 

"I  grant  you  that  brilliant  minds  differ,"  contin 
ued  Miss  Thorne,  "but  the  really  great  minds  of  the 
world  agree  in  favor  of  Christianity  as  against  ir- 
religion.  Mr.  Gladstone  says:  'The  greatest  of  all 
questions  of  the  day  is  that  of  the  gospel.  It  can  and 
will  correct  everything  needing  correction.  All  men 
at  the  head  of  great  movements  are  Christian  men. 
During  the  many  years  I  was  cabinet  officer  I  was 
brought  in  association  with  sixty  master  minds,  and 
all  but  five  of  them  were  Christians.'  Daniel  Web 
ster  was  once  asked  what  was  the  greatest  thought 
he  ever  had.  He  replied:  'My  personal  responsibil 
ity  to  a  personal  God.'  When  James  Russell  Lowell 
was  our  minister  to  England  he  was  once  present 
at  a  dinner  in  London  when  some  of  the  speakers 
present  expressed  their  contempt  for  Christianity, 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  231 

declaring  that  they  could  get  along  without  if,  and 
depreciating  its  influence  upon  men.  Mr.  Lowell  vol 
unteered  a  caustic  reply  to  their  sophistries,  a  por 
tion  of  which,  with  your  permission,  I  would  like  to 
read." 

Stepping  to  the  book  shelves,  Miss  Thorne  took 
therefrom  a  volume,  and  standing  beneath  the  chan 
delier,  quickly  turned  to  the  place  she  desired,  and 
read  the  following  words: 

"I  do  not  think  it  safe,"  said  the  distinguished 
poet,  statesman  and  scholar.  "I  am  formulating  no 
creed  of  my  own;  I  have  always  been  a  liberal 
thinker,  and  have,  therefore,  allowed  others  who  dif 
fered  from  me  to  think  also  as  the}7  liked;  but  at  the 
same  time  I  fear  that  when  we  indulge  ourselves  in 
the  amusement  of  going  without  a  religion,  we  are 
not,  perhaps,  aware  how  much  we  are  sustained  at 
present  by  an  enormous  mass,  all  about  us,  of  re 
ligious  feeling  and  religious  conviction;  so  that 
whatever  it  may  be  safe  for  us  to  think — for  us  who 
have  had  great  advantages,  and  have  been  brought 
up  in  such  a  way  that  a  certain  moral  direction  has 
been  given  to  our  character — I  do  not  know  what 
would  become  of  the  less  favored  classes  if  they  un 
dertook  to  play  the  same  game.  The  worst  kind  of 
a  religion  is  no  religion  at  all;  and  these  men,  living 
in  ease  and  luxury,  may  be  thankful  that  they  live 
in  a  land  where  the  gospel  they  neglect  has  tamed 
the  beastliness  and  ferocity  of  the  men  who,  but  for 


232  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

Christianity,  might  long  ago  have  eaten  their  car 
casses  like  the  South  Sea  Islanders,  or  cut  off  their 
heads  and  tanned  their  hides  like  the  monsters  of 
the  French  Revolution. 

"When  the  microscopic  search  of  skepticism, 
which  has  hunted  the  heavens  and  sounded  the  seas 
to  disprove  the  existence  of  a  Creator,  has  turned 
its  attention  to  human  society,  and  has  found  a  place 
on  this  planet,  ten  miles  square,  where  a  decent  man 
can  live  in  decency,  comfort  and  security,  supporting 
and  educating  his  children  unspoiled  and  unpol 
luted;  a  place  where  age  is  reverenced,  infancy  pro 
tected,  manhood  respected,  womanhood  honored, 
and  human  life  held  in  due  regard — when  skepticism 
finds  such  a  place  ten  miles  square  on  this  globe 
where  the  gospel  of  Christ  has  not  gone  and  cleared 
the  way,  and  laid  the  foundations,  and  made  decency 
and  security  possible,  it  Avill  then  be  in  order  for  the 
skeptical  literati  to  move  thither,  and  there  ventilate 
their  views.  But  so  long  as  these  very  men  are  de 
pendent  upon  the  religion  that  they  discard  for 
every  privilege  they  enjoy,  they  may  well  hesitate 
a  little  before  they  seek  to  rob  the  Christian  of  his 
hope,  and  humanity  of  its  faith  in  that  Savior  who 
alone  has  given  to  man  that  hope  of  eternal  life 
which  makes  life  tolerable  and  society  possible,  and 
robs  death  of  its  terror  and  the  grave  of  its  gloom." 

As  she  replaced  the  book,  Vincent's  eyes  followed 
her  every  movement  with  a  longing  inexpressible 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  233 

He  had  been  more  charmed  with  her  reading  than 
with  what  she  read.  Never  had  she  seemed  so 
queenly  to  him  as  now.  He  loved  her  with  all  the 
love  a  man  of  his  sordid  make-tip  could  love,  and 
felt  that  he  could  not  possibly  brook  defeat  in  his 
purpose  to  have  her  his  wife.  Feeling  that  to  argue 
with  her  was  absolutely  useless,  he  sought  to  change 
the  tide  of  affairs  by  an  appeal  to  vanity.  She  had 
resumed  her  seat  and  was  looking  thoughtfully  at 
the  cheerful  fire  when  he  began— 

"I  do  not  care  to  argue  with  you,  Miss  Grace,  for 
on  religious  subjects  you  are  clearly  beyond  my 
reach.  I  confess  that  I  have  never  read  the  Bible 
through,  and  have  given  little  attention  to  evidences 
of  any  kind,  for  or  against  Christianity.  I  have  been 
a  strictly  business  man  for  years,  and  have  succeeded 
handsomely.  Today  I  am  rich,  popular,  powerful. 
I  want  a  wife  who  is  my  equal  and  you  are  the 
only  lady  who  can  fill  the  bill.  If  you  will  accept 
me,  my  fortune  is  at  your  disposal,  and  I  promise  you 
that  I  will  not  hinder  you  in  the  exercise  of  any  of 
your  whims,  social,  political,  or  otherwise.  This  is 
no  light  matter,  Miss  Thorne,  and  I  trust  you  will 
consider  it  with  the  good  sense  for  which  you  are 
eminently  noted.  Mind  you,  my  skepticism  shall 
never  be  mentioned  in  your  presence,  and  if  that  is 
your  only  objection,  it  seems  to  me  that  you  ought  to 
give  me  your  hand  right  here  and  now." 

And  once  again  he  assumed  the  attitude  of  pe- 


234  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

titioner,  kneeling  at  her  side,  and  gently  soliciting 
her  hand. 

"But  there  are  other  objections,  Mr.  Vincent,"  said 
she. 

"And  pray,  what  can  they  be?"  pleaded  the  now 
thoroughly  awe-struck  lover.  To  have  been  com 
pelled  to  assume  the  defensive  was  a  thing  he  had 
not  expected  nor  prepared  for. 

"To  be  frank,  yet  I  hope  not  unkind,  Mr.  Vincent, 
some  of  your  personal  habits.  I  would  almost  as  soon 
be  the  wife  of  an  infidel  as  to  link  myself  for  life  with 
an  habitual  user  of  tobacco  and  strong  liquors." 

And  she  looked  the  astonished  suitor  squarely  in 
the  face,  as  his  countenance  changed  from  one  ex 
pression  to  another  and  back  again  with  a  rapidity 
quite  exciting. 

"Why,  Miss  Thome!"  he  implored.  "I  am  aston 
ished  that  your  demands  of  a  husband  should  be  so 
excessively  strict.  It  is  true  that  1  smoke  just  like 
other  men,  some  better  and  some  worse  than  myself, 
and  that  I  occasionally  partake  of  stimulants.  How 
can  one  avoid  it  when  in  society?  But  wrhat  harm  is 
there  in  sipping  a  little  champagne,  or,  for  that  mat 
ter,  in  taking  a  little  alcohol  when  over-burdened 
with  work,  as  I  am  at  times.  But  I  have  never  been 
the  worse  from  liquor  and  would  scorn  the  thought 
of  excess  in  that  direction." 

"Oh,  certainly,"  remarked  Miss  Thome,  somewhat 
coolly,  Vincent  thought.  "All  moderate  drinkers 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  235 

say  the  same.  But  it's  all  wrong.  Liquor  is  a  poison, 
and  no  human  being  is  excusable  for  taking  it  into 
the  stomach  as  a  beverage  under  any  circumstance 
whatever.  Nor  can  it  be  done  without  injury  to  a 
greater  or  lesser  extent.  Though  you  can  easily  con 
trol  your  appetite  at  present,  the  time  might  not  be 
far  distant  when  drinking  would  become  a  disease 
with  you,  and  then  my  life,  if  I  were  your  companion, 
would  be  miserable,  no  matter  how  elegant  our  home, 
nor  how  heavy  our  bank  account." 

"But  your  Bible  says  to  take  a  little  wine  for  the 
stomach's  sake,  does  it  not?"  asked  Vincent,  think 
ing  to  parry  her  blows  somewhat. 

"Certainly,  and  I  should  probably  say  the  same 
thing  under  similar  circumstances.  The  Apostle 
Paul  was  addressing  a  sickly  young  preacher  and  did 
right  in  recommending  the  pure,  unfermented  juice 
of  the  grape  as  a  food  and  tonic  for  his  jaded  body. 
But  if  Timothy  could  have  consumed  a  barrel  of  the 
kind  of  wine  his  superior  recommended  it  would 
not  have  intoxicated  him.  Not  so  with  your  fer 
mented  champagnes  and  nineteenth  century 
whisky." 

"But  I  can  easily  give  up  liquor  of  every  descrip 
tion  for  you  if  necessary;  I  cannot  understand  why 
you  should  be  so  foolish  about  smoking,  however, 
for  it  seems  to  me  a  simple,  harmless  habit,  in  which 
most  men  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  indulge." 

"Because,"  continued  Miss  Thome,  and  every  word 


236  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

was  like  a  dissecting  knife  to  the  man  at  her  side, 
who  had  now  resumed  his  seat,  and  who,  chin  in  hand, 
was  philosophically  studying  the  hickory  log  in  the 
glowing  grate  before  him,  "tobacco  is  also  a  poison, 
and  ncarty  every  reason  that  can  be  urged  against 
the  use  of  liquor  can  be  urged  against  the  use  of  to 
bacco.  Both  are  narcotics  of  the  worst  type.  The 
plant  from  which  your  cigars  are  made  is  one  of  the 
most  deadly  known  to  botany.  No  one  can  absorb 
nicotine  into  the  system  without  bad  results.  To 
bacco  slowly  murders  its  tens  of  thousands  of  vic 
tims  every  year  and  blights  the  lives  of  hundreds 
of  thonsandsof  others  with  disease.  It  causes  paraly 
sis,  heart  trouble,  cancer  of  the  throat,  neurasthenia., 
dyspepsia,  blindness,  stunted  growth,  consumption, 
and  time  would  fail  me  to  name  the  multitude  of 
evils  created  or  augmented  by  the  use  of  the  obnox 
ious  weed.  Horace  Greeley,  speaking  of  the  smell 
of  tobacco  smoke,  once  said:  'It  is  a  profane  stench.' 
And  Webster  facetiously  remarked:  'If  those  men 
must  smoke,  let  them  take  the  horse  shed.'  'Killed 
by  too  much  cavendish'  would  be  a  far  more  appro 
priate  epitaph  for  many  tombstones  than  some  of 
the  exotic  eulogies  we  see  in  every  cemetery.  Smok 
ing  pollutes  the  teeth  and  breath,  dulls  the  mental 
faculties,  inflames  the  baser  nature,  and  wills  to 
heredity  an  abnormal  makeup  which  often  dishon 
ors  a  beneficent  Creator." 

"You  ought  to  be  a  spectacled  professor  in  some 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  237 

ladies'  college,"  was  the  only  reply  Vincent  at 
tempted,  as  a  sickly  smile  crept  over  his  features. 

"Never,"  insisted  Miss  Thome,  "for  I  am  a  believer 
in  co-education  of  the  sexes." 

"Another  hobby?"  asked  Vincent,  the  smile  slo\vly 
expanding. 

"Yes,  these  new  women  of  whom  you  read  so  much 
have  many  hobbies.  The  men  have  had  it  all  their 
own  way  so  long,  however,  that  they  ought  not  to 
object  to  us  having  a  little  of  the  sport,  too,  in  these 
dissipated  days.  Especially  when  our  hobbies  are 
sensible,  and  make  for  the  betterment  of  the  race." 

Vincent's  smile  now  broke  into  a  short,  hoarse 
laugh.  Then  shifting  his  position  a  little,  he  coyly 
inquired: 

"And  have  you  any  other  objections  to  3Tour 
adorer?" 

"Yes,  Mr.  Vincent,"  she  replied,  "it  is  one  not  often 
urged  in  this  material  age,  and  yet  it  is  of  vast  im 
portance  with  me.  You  love  money  too  well." 

"That  is  indeed  a  strange  objection  for  a  woman 
to  urge  against  a  prospective  husband,"  said  Vin 
cent.  "Money  seems  to  be  the  chief  requirement 
with  most  women,  and  it  is  certainly  a  very  useful 
adjunct  to  married  life.  I  know  your  Bible  says  that 
money  is  the  root  of  all  evil,  or  something  to  that 
effect;  but  I  have  observed  that  most  church  mem 
bers  dig  for  it  about  as  anxiously  as  we  wicked  men 
of  the  world.  You  seem  to  be  an  all-round  excep- 


238  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

tion,  however."  And  he  coughed  a  little  cynical, 
business-like  cough. 

"No,  Mr.  Vincent,  the  Bible  does  not  say  a  word 
against  money.  It  says  that  the  love  of  money  is  the 
root  of  all  evil.  That's  a  very  different  thing.  Money 
is  power,  and  I  rejoice  to  see  it  accumulated  in 
the  hands  of  generous,  philanthropic  persons.  But 
when  money  is  amassed  simply  for  money's  sake,  it 
becomes  a  curse.  Milton  spoke  incisivety  when  he 
wrote : 

'Mammon  led  them  on, 
Mammon,  the  least  erected  spirit  that  fell 
From  heaven.' 

It  is  painful  to  witness  the  terrible  scramble  for  gold 
to-day.  Men  of  every  rank  and  station  in  life  have 
been  led  into  the  struggle,  so  fascinating  has  it  be 
come.  It  is  a  mania  which  shuts  out  all  growth  in 
other  directions,  fostering  selfishness,  deceit,  cruelty. 
Hood  very  aptly  described  the  present  condition  of 
things  in  America  when  he  wrote: 

'Gold,  gold,  gold,  gold, 

Bright  and  heavy,  hard  and  cold, 

Molten,  graven,  hammered,  and  rolled; 

Heavy  to  get  and  light  to  hold; 

Hoarded,  bartered,  bought  and  sold; 

Stolen,  borrowed,  squandered,  doled; 

Spurned  by  the  young,  but  hugged  by  the  old 

To  the  very  verge  of  the  church-yard  mold; 

Price  of  many  a  crime  untold, — 

Gold,  gold,  gold,  gold.' 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  239 

The  great  Master  said:  'Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
Mammon,'  and  so  many  men  with  one  accord  seem 
in  these  days  to  be  choosing  the  latter." 

"But  have  I  not  been  liberal  with  my  money?"  in 
quired  Vincent,  apparently  somewhat  hurt. 

"Oh,  yes!  With  yourself  and  those  you  admire. 
Personally  I  shall  never  be  able  to  repay  your  many 
kindnesses.  But  you  have  not  been  liberal  with  the 
poor  and  needy  around  you.  There  are  hundreds  of 
poor  fellows  working  on  your  lines  for  a  scanty  nine 
dollars  a  week,  and  a  family  of  four,  six  or  nine  to 
support.  And  yet  twice  a  year  your  stockholders 
meet  and  declare  mighty  dividends.  In  your  own 
city  are  thousands  who  do  not  know  the  meaning  of 
good  clothes  and  a  square  meal  from  one  year's  end 
to  another,  and  yet  your  name  has  never  appeared  in 
the  lists  of  public  benefactors.  By  your  own  admis 
sion  to  me  in  a  conversation  held  some  months  ago, 
these  constant  appeals  on  the  part  of  philanthropic 
schemers  fatigue  you,  and  you  generally  instruct 
your  clerk  to  tell  them  you  are  out  when  they  call 
on  you  for  donations.  Out  of  a  vast  income  you  give 
but  a  mere  pittance  to  lift  up  the  fallen,  when  you 
could  easily  found  a  hospital,  endow  an  industrial 
school,  and  establish  a  friendliness  between  capital 
and  labor  as  it  comes  under  your  control  which  would 
bring  joy  to  the  burdened  hearts  of  thousands. 
Hence  I  could  never  consent  to  be  your  wife  and  live 
iit  ease  aiid  ia  luxury  while  I  reajised  tbat  others 


240  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

less  favored  deserved  the  money  all  this  cost  much 
more  than  I." 

"And  what  else?"  asked  the  millionaire,  appar 
ently  anxious  to  conclude  the  examination.  "Have 
you  any  other  reason  for  refusing  my  offer?  I  may 
as  well  know  them  all." 

"You  are  too  old,  Mr.  Vincent,"  said  she  sweetly. 
"While  I  am  but  twenty-five,  you  are  forty-one.  A 
difference  of  sixteen  years  is  too  great  in  the  mar 
riage  relation.  I  am  aware  that  in  many  instances 
where  the  difference  has  been  even  greater  the  cou 
ple  has  gotten  along  nicely,  to  all  appearances.  Bui, 
it  is  unnatural,  and  what  is  unnatural  is  unwise. 
You  should  prefer  a  wife  nearer  your  own  age.  In 
fact,  you  should  have  married  fifteen  years  ago.  All 
this  talk  about  marriage  being  a.  failure  has  been 
provoked  by  unnatural  marriages.  Persons  rush 
into  this,  the  most  sacred  relation  of  life,  without 
due  thought  or  preparation,  and  the  result  is  tin- 
happiness,  and  the  institution  itself  is  blamed  when 
the  silly  incumbents  ought  to  be.  Wealth,  blood, 
fame,  and  such  like  elements  should  always  be  con 
sidered  secondary  in  the  choice  of  a  partner  for  life. 
Love  should  rule.  Love  marriage's  are  the  great 
need  of  the  hour." 

The  fire  had  burned  low,  and  the  room  was  becom 
ing  chilly.  The  hands  on  the  mantel  clock  pointed 
the  hour  of  eleven.  Vincent  felt  that  he  must  now 
bring  this  unsatisfactory  discussion  to  a  close,  and 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  241 

resolved  to  make  one  last,  frantic  effort.  "The  third 
time's  the  charm,"  he  thought,  as  once  again  he 
knelt  at  Miss  Thome's  feet. 

"Grace— darling — pride  of  my  heart  and  life — I 
cannot  live  without  you.  Do  not  cast  me  off.  Help 
me  to  be  the  man  you  would  have  me  to  be.  Become 
my  wife  and  I  will  endeavor  to  conform  to  your 
every  ideal.  Refuse  me,  and  T  cannot  vouch  for  the 
consequences." 

And  he  took  her  hand  in  his  and  pressed  it  to  his 
lips  before  she  had  time  to  answer.  But  gently 
withdrawing  it,  she  quietly  answered  : 

"Mr.  Vincent,  the  worst  policy  a  woman  could 
possibly  pursue  is  to  marry  any  man  to  reform  him. 
Many  have  tried  it,  and  not  one  in  ten  thousand  ever 
completes  the  task.  There  are  worse  men  than 
you,  a  hundred  times  over.  I  shall  be  glad  to  count 
you  among  my  warmest  friends  while  life  lasts  if 
you  will  let  ine^  but  marry  you  I  cannot.  There  is 
one  reason  I  have  kept  till  the  last,  and  which  I 
think  will  move  you  to  retreat  in  this  vain  pursuit." 

"One  more?"  exclaimed  Vincent.  "And  tell  me, 
what  can  it  be?" 

"My  heart  is  not  my  own.    I  love  another  man." 


UNDER  THE  MISTLETOE. 


CHAPTER  X. 

UNDER  THE  MISTLETOE. 

"I  rest  content;   I  kiss  your  eyes, 
I  kiss  your  hair  in  my  delight: 
I   kiss  my  hand  and  say,   'Good-night.'  " 

— JOAQUIN  MILLER. 

"She  was  good  ES  she  was  fair. 
None — none  on  earth  above  her! 
As  pure  in  thought  as  angels  are, 
To  know  her  was  to  love  her." 

—ROGERS. 

Sidney  Vincent  did  not  stay  three  days.  He  left 
the  following  morning  for  Milwaukee,  where  he  vis 
ited  twenty-four  hours  at  the  home  of  a  millionaire 
brewer  and  proposed  to  his  youngest  daughter,  a  but 
terfly  maiden  of  nineteen  summers.  Of  course,  he 
was  accepted,  for  he  was  a  warm  acquaintance  of  the 
old  gentleman  and  had  attended  several  fashionable 
receptions  at  his  home  in  bygone  days.  For  several 
years  it  had  been  one  of  the  fondest  dreams  of  Mrs. 
Millionaire  Brewer  to  marry  her  Miss  Isabel  to  this 
wealthy  and  popular  railroad  magnate.  So  arrange 
ments  were  promptly  effected,  and  the  affair  set  for 
Christmas-tide.  It  was  considered  a  royal  match  by 
the  gossips,  for  it  enhanced  the  wealth  and  worldly 


246  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

prospects  of  both  sides  in  the  bargain  and  insured  to 
society  another  aristocratic  establishment. 

All  this,  and  much  more,  I  learned  upon  good  au 
thority  some  time  after  it  occurred.  Well,  generally 
speaking,  folks  are  sooner  or  later  assorted  accord 
ing  to  affinity,  and  it  is  quite  proper. 

As  the  holidays  approached  I  could  scarcely  wait 
for  the  hour  of  my  departure  for  Smithville.  Sev 
eral  friendly  letters  had  passed  between  myself  and 
Miss  Thorne.  But  as  yet  I  was  no  wiser  than  I  had 
been  concerning  the  real  status  of  affairs  between 
herself  and  Vincent.  Nor  was  Mrs.  Brown.  Al 
though  a  most  intimate  friend  of  the  latter's,  the  fair 
young  lady  had  never  divulged  her  intentions  matri 
monially.  She  was  a  wise  general  who  kept  her 
own  counsel  in  this  matter. 

"But  I  cannot  believe  that  Miss  Grace  will  ever 
marry  Mr.  Vincent,"  said  the  banker's  wife  one  day 
as  we  were  talking  over  the  subject.  "She  will  marry 
whom  she  loves  when  she  does  marry,  and  I  have 
never  heard  her  say  anything  which  would  warrant 
one  in  concluding  that  she  loved  the  railroad  man." 

This  gave  me  hope,  and  I  firmly  resolved  that  I 
would  not  return  from  her  sweet  presence  this  trip 
without  knowing  my  fate.  Time  did  not  lessen  my 
love  for  her,  but  it  seemed  to  deepen,  heighten, 
broaden  with  each  passing  day  and  hour.  I  felt 
that  no  other  could  ever  take  her  place  in  my  affec 
tious,  and  often  wondered  what  would  become  of  me 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  247 

if  after  all  she  should  wed  Vincent.  I  longed  to 
settle  the  question  forever;  and  yet  I  feared  the  out 
come.  As  Madame  de  Stael  says,  "Where  we  really 
love,  we  often  dread  more  than  we  desire  the  solemn 
moment  that  exchanges  hope  for  certainty."  And 
Sir  Philip  Sidney  spoke  truthfully  when  he  said: 
"They  love  indeed  who  quake  to  say  they  love." 

At  last  I  was  on  the  way.  A  heavy  snow  had  fallen 
the  night  previous  and  my  train  was  two  hours  late 
in  reaching  Smithville.  But  Miss  Grace  and  her 
good  father  were  at  the  depot  awaiting  my  arrival. 
This  surprised  me  almost  as  much  as  it  pleased  me, 
for  the  hour  was  wrell  into  the  night. 

"We  are  happy  to  welcome  you  again,  Doctor," 
said  Miss  Thome,  as  she  extended  her  little  gloved 
hand,  warmly.  "And  you  are  looking  so  well." 

"Yes,"  I  replied,  more  than  pleased,  "I  am  in  per 
fect  health.  Of  course,  I  find  the  Thornes  all  well, 
for  it  is  the  natural  order  of  things?" 

"Exactly,"  remarked  Mr.  Thorne,  as  he  drew  a 
heavy  robe  about  us  and  gave  the  mare  a  gentle  cut. 

They  had  come  for  me  in  a  sleigh.    It  was  a  crisp, 
starry  night,  and  as  we  skimmed  over  the  snow  to  the 
merry  jingle  of  bells  I  felt  with  Tennyson  that 
"Love  could  walk  with  banished  Hope  no  more." 

After  a  cup  of  hot  water,  a  piece  of  buttered  toast 
and  a  half  hour's  conversation,  I  retired.  The  next 
forenoon  was  spent  in  pleasant  visitation,  and  the 
afternoon  in  sleigh  riding.  We  drove  out  to  the  villa 


248  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

and  made  an  interesting  call  on  the  old  butler  and 
his  wife.  Jim  was  present,  and  at  my  request  fav 
ored  me  with  a  couple  of  games  at  checkers,  in  both 
of  which  he  worsted  me  ignoininiously,  and  then 
added  insult  to  injury  by  saying: 

"Revner,  if  you  can't  preech  beiter'n  you  play 
checkers,  I  pity  the  folks  as  comes  to  hear  yer!" 

The  hearty  laugh  which  followed  was  entirely  at 
my  expense,  r.nd  I  only  partially  parried  the  at  hick 
by  asking  Jim  if  he  had  seen  (he  ghost  at  Myers' 
bridge  lately.  Aunt  Martha  insisted  on  us  remain 
ing  to  dinner,  saying  that  she  had  on  a  Christmas 
goose.  But  we  excused  ourselves  on  account  of  Miss 
Grace  having  an  engagement  at  the  church  that 
evening.  The  Sunday-school  had  an  old-fashioned 
Christmas  tree,  and  she  promised  her  boys  to  be 
present.  She  kept  her  promise  and  saw  that  each  of 
them  received  a  handsome  and  useful  gift.  I  accom 
panied  her  to  the  services,  and  was  never  more 
pleased  with  the  dear  girl  than  on  this  occasion, 
when  her  face  fairly  shone  with  delight  as  she  moved 
here  and  there  among  the  happy  throng,  adding  little 
touches  to  the  arrangements,  without  which  the  ex 
ercises  of  the  hour  would  have  been  much  less  suc 
cessful. 

"To-morrow  we  will  make  some  calls,"  she  said  as 
we  walked  home.  "You  remember  that  T  promised 
you  once  that  3rou  might  accompany  me  on  one  of  my 
rounds  among  the  poor.  T  would  not  think  of  making 


ONE  OF  THE  MANY  HOMES  IN  SM1THVILLE  WHERE 
MISS  THORNE  IS  A  WELCOME  VISITOR. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  251 

such  a  proposition  to  others  at  this  gala  season,  but 
I  know  your  interest  in  this  sort  of  work/' 

"Yes,  Miss  Grace,  I  shall  be  only  too  glad  to  go 
with  you,"  I  assured  her.  "When  we  are  most  happy 
ourselves  we  should  be  the  more  willing  to  share  it 
with  others  less  fortunate;  and  as  Christmas  comes 
but  once  a  year,  those  who  can  should  make  it  mean 
much  to  the  sorrow-stricken  and  downcast  about 
them." 

During  the  day  Miss  Josephine  had  decorated  the 
Thorne  home  with  mistletoe  and  holly  and  Mrs. 
Thome  and  Bridget  had  prepared  a  wealth  of  tempt 
ing  delicacies  for  the  morrow's  spread.  It  was  al 
most  midnight  when  we  all  retired,  after  a  jolly 
evening  in  the  best  room.  The  girls  played  and  sang, 
the  man  made  some  cider  and  brought  it  fresh  from 
the  press,  ice  cold,  and  little  eight-year-old  Nellie, 
who  had  come  from  the  city  to  spend  holida}rs  u  ith 
grandpa  and  grandma,  spoke  a  piece  or  two.  Then 
the  head  of  the  household  took  down  the  old  Book 
and  read  Luke's  account  of  the  Saviour's  birth,  and 
we  all  knelt  in  prayer.  In  a  few  well-chosen  words 
he  thanked  the  Father  for  the  many  blessings  of 
the  hour,  petitioned  mercy  for  the  poor  and  needy 
everywhere  and  committed  the  souls  of  all  to  His 
tender  care.  There  was  nothing  stiff  about  it,  but  a 
simple,  sweet,  devotional  spirit  that  charmed  me  be- 
3'ond  expression.  Verily,  I  thought,  David  was  right 
when  he  said :  "The  ways  of  religion  are  the  ways  of 
pleasantness." 


252  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

Enjoying  the  pleasures  of  such  a  fireside,  my  muse 
was  thoroughly  aroused,  and  I  found  it  difficult  to 
sleep  for  an  hour  or  more  after  retiring.  I  thought 
of  Mulock's  words: 

"It  is  the  Christmas  time; 
And  up  and  down  'twixt  heaven  and  earth, 
In  the  glorious  grief  and  solemn  mirth, 
The  shining  angels  climb." 

It  was  quite  late  the  following  morning  when  Miss 
Thome  and  I  started  out  for  twenty  calls  among  I  he 
poor.  But  it  was  a  bright  day,  and  our  hearts  were 
light.  The  man  drove  us  about  in  a  double- seated 
sleigh,  in  which  had  been  packed  twenty  baskets, 
each  filled  with  good  things.  There  was  no  formal 
ity  about  this  self-appointed  missionary's  calls.  She 
went  into  the  homes  of  her  Hock  like  a  sunbeam.  It 
was : 

"Good  morning,  Mrs.  Muggins!  How  are  you?  And 
how  is  that  dear  little  baby  and  the  rest  of  the  chil 
dren?  A  merry  Christmas  to  you  ail!" 

Or, 

"Hello,  Hobby!  Hello,  Sally!  Did  Old  Santa  Glaus 
bring  you  anything  this  year?  What,  no!  Then  we'll 
see  about  that.  Ho,  there,  William  (calling  to  the 
man),  bring  in  that  little  basket,  please." 

And  everywhere  she  was  royally  welcomed.  Sad- 
faced  mothers  brightened  up,  and  ragged  children 
fairly  danced  with  glee  as  she  opened  up  the  bas- 


UNDER  THE  MISTLETOE, 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  255 

kets  and  dispensed  gifts  which  she  had  thoughtfully 
provided  for  one  and  all. 

As  we  drove  from  place  to  place,  some  of  the 
church  bells  rang,  and  a  number  of  well-dressed, 
cultured-looking  people  might  be  seen  wending  their 
respective  ways  to  the  church  of  their  choice.  Where 
upon  Miss  Thorne  remarked: 

"It  is  all  very  nice  for  those  to  go  to  church  this 
morning  who  have  been  abundantly  blessed  with 
the  good  things  of  this  life;  but  somebody  must  think 
of  the  poor  unfortunates.  But  I  do  love  to  hear  the 
bells.  It  reminds  me  of  one  of  Longfellow's  stanzas: 

'I  heard  the  bells  on  Christmas  Day 
Their  old,  familiar  carols  play, 
And  wild  and  sweet 
The  words  repeat 
Of  peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  men!' 

And,  yet,  Doctor,  there  is  so  much  formality  about 
our  churches  to-day.  It  keeps  the  masses  out.  When 
will  our  spiritual  leaders  learn  that  acceptable  serv 
ice  of  God  does  not  consist  in  conforming  to  cer 
tain  ritualisms,  and  in  always  doing  the  same  thing 
in  the  same  stiff  way;  but  in  fulfilling  the  law  of 
Christ,  the  crowning  principle  of  which  is  love.  To 
my  mind  the  greatest  verse  in  the  New  Testament  is 
this:  'Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these,  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto 
me.'  He  best  serves  God  who  best  serves  humanity. 
The  Bible  tells  us  how." 


256  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

And  thus  she  chatted  on,  throwing  out  here  and 
there  nuggets  of  golden  truth  which  would  have 
done  credit  to  the  profoundest  thinkers  of  history. 
She  had  certainly  been  much  with  books,  and  yet  she 
was  not  bookish  at  all.  Mingling  daily  with  the 
great  work-a-day  world  about  her,  she  had  kept  her 
brilliant  mind  and  sympathetic  heart  free  from  cob 
webs  and  moss. 

It  was  a  merry  Christmas  dinner  indeed  that  we 
sat  down  to  at  two  o'clock.  Six  courses,  interspersed 
with  hearty  good  cheer  made  the  hour  one  long  to 
be  remembered. 

"Let's  go  skating!"  suggested  Miss  Josephine,  as 
we  arose  from  the  table. 

"What  do  you  say,  Doctor?"  asked  Miss  Grace. 
"I'm  willing." 

"I  should  enjoy  going,"  said  I. 

And  we  were  soon  off.  The  man  drove  us  over  to 
the  lake  at  the  villa,  where  the  skating  was  excel 
lent.  It  was  one  of  my  favorite  sports,  as  it  seemed 
to  be  with  the  girls,  and  we  spent  two  very  pleasant 
hours  at  it. 

Returning  home  b}^  dusk,  I  was  left  alone  awhile. 
Throwing  myself  into  the  big  easy  chair  in  the  par 
lor,  where  I  had  so  often  sat  before,  I  wondered 
whether  the  terrible  suspense  I  was  undergoing 
would  ever  come  to  a  satisfactory  end.  Two  days 
had  passed,  and  not  a  word  on  the  subject  nearest 
my  heart,  Vincent's  name  had  not  been  mentioned, 


THE    SKATING    WAS    EXCELLENT.— Page    256. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  259 

which  appeared  to  me  a  favorable  omen,  for,  I  rea 
soned,  if  she  were  engaged  to  him,  she  could  not 
keep  it,  strong-minded  and  cautious  though  she  be. 

Presently  the  object  of  my  long,  heartfelt  study 
came  inj  attired,  as  everj  in  bloomers.  During  the 
day  she  had  worn  a  navy  blue  suit,  heavy  and  warm, 
with  leggins  and  cape  to  match.  Miss  Josephine 
had  worn  a  suit  of  brown,  similarly  made,  and  was 
almost  as  fascinating  as  her  sister.  As  we  skated  I 
remarked  more  than  once  the  eminent  superiority  of 
such  a  costume  for  the  exercise  we  were  enjoying 
over  the  old,  troublesome  skirts. 

Miss  Grace  had  gone  to  her  room  upon  our  return 
and  exchanged  the  navy  blue  for  a  lighter  suit  of 
plaited  creton.  The  waist  was  cut  lower  in  the  neck 
than  usual,  revealing  just  a  little  of  her  plump  square 
shoulders  and  broad,  well-rounded  chest,  which  a 
little  gold  chain  and  sparkling  pendant  set  off  most 
winsomely.  The  sleeves  were  large  and  open,  sug 
gesting  ease  and  good  fellowship.  There  were  no 
leggins  over  the  thick,  firmly-knit  dark  hose,  and 
her  boots  had  given  place  to  a  pair  of  slippers  that 
for  ease  and  beauty  combined  would  have  made  Cin 
derella  wild.  The  hair  had  been  rearranged,  and 
from  head  to  foot  she  now  appeared  to  me  more  than 
ever  before  a  dream  of  womanly  perfection. 

"Papa  and  mamma  have  gone  out  for  the  evening," 
she  said,  as  she  closed  the  door  and  drew  the  low 
divan  a  little  nearer  the  grate,  "and  sister  has  re- 


260  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

tired  to  her  room  to  write  some  letters.  So  I  guess 
you  and  I  will  be  obliged  to  entertain  ourselves  as 
best  we  can,  Doctor." 

"Well,  Miss  Thome,  I  think  we  are  equal  to  the 
emergency,  do  you  not?"  I  asked,  as  I  drew7  my  chair 
a  little  nearer  the  fire,  and  in  easy  conversing  dis 
tance. 

"We  talked  of  books,  music  and  the  various  reforms 
as  usual,  concluding  with  divorce.  On  this  subject 
Miss  Grace  wras  very  pronounced. 

"It  is  a  shame,"  she  said,  "that  the  divorce  laws  of 
our  country  are  so  loose.  Why,  in  Missouri,  I  am  told, 
there  are  eleven  different  legal  loop-holes  for  separa 
tion.  There  are  thirty  thousand  divorces  a  year  in 
the  United  States.  Chicago  alone  contributes  nearly 
1,000  to  this  list.  No  wonder  marriage  is  considered 
a  failure  by  some  disappointed  old  bachelors  and 
spinsters  and  wrecked  mariners  on  the  matrimonial 
sea.  Swift  says,  'The  reason  why  so  many  marriages 
are  unhappy  is  because  young  ladies  spend  their  time 
in  making  nets,  not  in  making  cakes.'  But  he  should 
not  have  omitted  to  score  the  other  side  by  suggest 
ing  that  club  life  among  men  often  sours  the  taste 
for  a  natural  and  felicitous  domesticity.  Tennyson 
declares  that 

'Marriages  are  made  in  heaven.' 

This  is  true  of  genuine  love  marriages,  perhaps,  but 
not  of  all  matrimonial  contracts,  for  many  are  made 
in  the  counting  room  in  this  practical  age." 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  263 

She  stopped,  and,  looking  me  pleasantly  in  the 
face,  seemed  to  be  waiting  for  me  to  say  something. 
My  heart  fluttered,  and  the  blood  must  have  rushed 
to  my  cheeks,  for  I  felt  them  tingling  as  I  endeavored 
to  reply.  It  was  awkward,  but  I  said: 

"But  you  are  theorizing.  Possibly  you  may  marry 
some  day  yourself,  and  find  things  very  much  as 
others  do  after  the  honeymoon.  Or,  do  you  ever  ex 
pect  to  marry — what  is  the  doctrine  of  the  new 
woman  on  this  question?" 

"Indeed,  I  hope  to  marry,  for  to  wed  and  bring  up 
children  is  the  highest  mission  of  womankind." 

Again  she  paused,  and  I  felt  that  my  time  had 
come.  But  I  hesitated.  Oh,  tongue!  Why  art  thou 
silent?  said  my  heart.  Why  do  you  not  speak  your 
love,  for  willing  ears  await  your  burning  words. 

But  I  could  not  speak.  In  my  pulpit,  or  in  the  so 
cial  circle  I  had  never  been  known  to  lack  for  words; 
but  in  the  presence  of  this  heavenly  creature  I  had 
often  found  myself  speechless.  The  silence  was 
dreadful  to  me,  and  I  was  glad  when  she  broke  it 
again  by  a  simple  little  question,  simply  put: 

"Do  you  ever  expect  to  marry,  Doctor?" 

My  heart  beat  so  powerfully  that  I  feared  she 
would  hear  it,  and  my  face  was  growing  so  red  that  I 
instinctively  turned  it  slightly  away  from  her  steady 
gaze  as  I  answered,  meekly: 

"It  is  mv  fondest  ambition." 


264  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

Scarcely  had  the  words  left  my  lips  till  she  shot 
another  question  more  terrible  than  all  the  rest: 

"Who?" 

Now  I  knew  my  time  had  come,  and  I  fairly 
clutched  the  arms  of  my  big  chair  as  I  tried  to  frame 
a  reply.  Now  or  never!  said  a  voice  within.  Hut 
again  I  hesitated,  and  possibly  would  have  been  a 
lonely  wanderer  in  some  unknown  land  to-day  had 
not  Grace  Thorne  had  the  good  sense  and  courage  to 
throw  custom  to  the  winds,  break  overfall  restraint, 
and  act  upon  her  better  impulse  by  answering  for 
me : 

"Me,  of  course.  Doctor,  I  love  you,  and  know  that 
you  have  loved  me  this  long,  long  time.  But  brave 
and  good  as  you  are  in  all  other  things,  you  are 
timid  in  this.  Hence  my  boldness.  Do  you  want  my 
hand?" 

It  seemed  for  a  moment  that  a  thousand  electric 
wires  had  been  wrapped  about  me,  and  a  mighty 
current  turned  on.  Arising  from  my  chair,  I  took 
the  sweetly  proffered  hand,  and,  sitting  beside  her 
on  the  low  divan,  broke  forth  in  expressions  of  love 
and  gratitude  certainly  sufficiently  pronounced  to 
meet  all  demands. 

"A  thousand  times  YES,  Miss  Thorne — Grace- 
darling  one.  Oh,  how  good  you  are,  how  brave  and 
true!  I  thought  perhaps  you  loved  Vincent,  and 
hence  have  delayed  speaking  to  you  on  this  subject 
for,  lo,  these  many  months.  But  I  have  loved  you 


L  r  ID  13 


FULLY  ONE-HALF  THE  WOMEN  NOW  WEAR 
BLOOMERS.— Page  271. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  267 

almost  from  the  first  with  a  love  unspeakable.  But 
can  you  really  love  me?" 

Her  answer  was  easily  discernable  as  she  gave  me 
a  look  of  infinite  trust,  and  framed  her  pretty  mouth 
for  a  kiss.  Our  lips  met — once,  twice,  thrice,  linger 
ing  longer  together  each  time  in  a  rapture  trans- 
cendently  blissful.  It  seemed  that  we  had  been 
caught  up  to  the  third  heaven,  so  happy  were  we. 
My  arm  stole  slyly  around  her  yielding  waist,  and  I 
pressed  her  close  to  my  heart.  As  I  did  so  her  beau 
tiful  head  nestled  fondly  on  my  breast,  and  I  kissed 
her  very  hair  in  mad  delight. 

I  do  not  know  how  long  we  continued  so.  It  may 
have  been  ten  minutes,  and  it  may  have  been  an 
hour.  We  talked  little,  for,  as  Havergal  says, 

"Love  understands  love,  it  needs  no  talk." 

The  moments  were  steeped  in  bliss,  and  each  pas 
sionate  touch  of  curl  and  dimple  only  added  to  my 
joy. 

At  last  she  gently  withdrew  from  my  arms,  and, 
sitting  hand  in  hand,  we  told  the  old,  old  story. 
Pointing  to  the  mistletoe  which  hung  just  above  our 
heads,  she  said: 

"I  had  all  this  in  view  when  I  drew  the  divan  so 
close  to  the  grate  this  evening,  Doctor." 

"Call  me  Frank,  please,  darling,"  said  I. 

"Well,  dear,  old,  timid  Frank,  then,"  she  said,  with 
a  merry  twinkle  in  her  eyes,  and  a  warmer  press  of 


268  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOM'AN. 

the  hand,  "I've  loved  you  a  long  time,  you  precious 
boy,  and  could  not  await  your  tardy  declaration  any 
longer." 

"You  are  a  brave,  sweet  girl.  I  feel  unworthy  of 
you,  indeed  I  do.  But,  oh,  how  I  do  love  you!  And 
how  happy  I  am!  I  now  feel  with  Bayard  Taylor 
what  I  have  never  felt  before  that 

'Love  is  rest.' 

And  do  you  really  love  me,  Grace?" 

"Yes,  Frank;  in  the  language  of  the  same  poet,  I 
can  truly  say, 

'I  love  thee,  I  love  but  thee, 
With  a  love  that  shall  not  die 

Till  the  sun  grows  cold, 

And  the  stars  are  old, 
And  the  leaves  of  the  Judgment  Book  unfold.'  " 

Twice  the  fire  had  to  be  replenished,  as  we  talked 
and  loved,  and  loved  and  talked.  It  was  long  after 
midnight  when  we  said  "Good  night"  at  the  foot  of 
the  stairs,  with  many  a  fond  embrace  and  nectarine 
kiss. 


We  were  married  the  following  May.  In  the  in 
terim  we  paid  each  other  several  visits,  I  running 
out  to  Smithville  occasionally  and,  she  running  into 
the  city.  Mrs.  Brown  was  almost  beside  herself 
with  delight  and  she  was  closely  seconded  by  the 


FRANK,  JUNIOR,  AND  GRACE,  THE  YOUNGEST.— 
Page  272. 


THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN.  271 

banker  himself.  The  Thornes  were  all  favorable  to 
the  union,  and  my  people  soon  became  reconciled  to 
bloomers,  and  were  as  happy  as  the  rest. 

After  the  wedding  we  began  housekeeping  imme 
diately,  and  spent  our  honeymoon  in  the  bosom  of 
our  parish,  which  grew  more  prosperous  every  day. 
Nei&ier  of  us  favored  a  honeymoon  trip,  another 
curse  which  fashion  has  inflicted  upon  a  longsuf- 
fering  world.  But  after  twelve  months  spent  quietly 
at  home,  getting  well  and  happily  acquainted  with 
each  other,  we  went  abroad  for  six  months,  visiting 
almost  every  place  of  interest  in  the  Old  World,  and 
especially  the  city  of  London,  the  home  of  Queen 
Victoria. 


Five  years  have  rolled  by.  Our  church  now  num 
bers  over  three  thousand  members,  thoroughly  or 
ganized  on  the  institutional  plan,  and  constantly  ex 
tending  its  influence  for  good.  Mrs.  Charlton  still 
lectures  occasionally,  and  is  president  of  the  Ameri 
can  Dress  Reform  Society,  which  now  has  branches 
in  almost  every  city  and  town  on  the  continent.  Fully 
one-half  of  the  women  of  the  land  now  wear  bloom 
ers,  and  the  other  half  cannot  hold  out  much  longer. 
Bicycling  is  as  common  among  women  as  walking, 
and  many  specialists  in  diseases  peculiar  to  women 
have  been  compelled  to  quit  their  profession  and  go 
to  farming  for  a,  living,  Silver  was  restored  in  '93 


272  THE  MODEL  NEW  WOMAN. 

and  equal  suffrage  granted  by  voice  of  the  people  in 
1900.  The  tariff  question  has  been  settled  by  Hi, 
appointment  of  a  bureau  of  non-partisan  experts, 
and  the  liquor  question  is  to  be  the  chief  bone  of  con 
tention  in  1!)04.  Already  the  battle  is  being  set  in 
array,  with  every  prospect  of  a  sweeping  victory  for 
the  advocates  of  national  prohibition.  Times  are 
good,  the  people  of  the  land  are  becoming  more  rev 
erent,  and  America  promises  to  be  more  than  ever 
before  a  "missionary  among  the  nations,'1  diffusing 
light,  liberty  and  love. 

Two  little  ones  have  come  to  bless  our  home — 
Frank,  junior,  and  (trace,  the  younger.  Sometimes 
the  busy  cares  of  life  almost  overwhelm  the  soul,  but 
an  hour  in  the  bosom  of  my  little  family  after  the 
day's  work  is  done  dispels  every  mist,  and  a  thousand 
times  I  have  thanked  heaven  for  that  sweet  NEW 
WOMAN,  who  still  wears  bloomers,  keeps  abreast 
of  the  world's  development,  and  proves  to  all  by  a 
wide-awake,  up-to-date,  whole-hearted  devotion  to 
principle  that  life  is  worth  living.  Daily  in  our  home 
is  verified  the  words  of  Longfellow: 

"As  unto  the  bow  the  cord  is, 
So  unto  the  man  is  woman: 
Though  she  bends  him,  she  obeys  him; 
Though  she  draws  him,  yet  she  follows; 
Useless  each  without  the  other!" 

THE  END. 


University  of  California  Library 
Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


hh 

^J||  M  li        J*          -v  Jb^      1 

OCT  1  o  2005 


A     000  605  493     6 


